Jono and David Bateman with their pal Monet, at his garden in Giverny.
Very Unauthorized Bio
by David Bateman
Conceived in the back of Pops Chocolate Shoppe after his parents had shared an especially delicious banana split, Jono spent his early youth in Hooterville where formative influences began to take shape. His youthful drawings of pigs, cows , chickens, apples, potatoes and peaches gave way to the bright palette- the reds oranges greens and yellows he so masterfully combines in his masterful portraits and landscapes. During a brief stint as a sign painter for the local grocery store in neighbouring Riverdale, Pye met his one true love. But she was an illustrated character in a comic book so the relationship went nowhere. Luckily , on a Greek Island with the shores of Turkey on the horizon, he caught a glimpse of Kelly, a sweet, sharply defined brunette beauty in her own right – a cross between Betty, Veronica, and Jessica Rabbit – she became his lifelong muse. Every time he renders a pear a peach an apple or a lime , a lemon a kiwi a watermelon or a comquat – you will find her luminosity, elegance and wit beneath each brush stroke. They named their four children Chiaro Scuro Penti and Mento in honour of their layered and indelible romance – the light and shade, the shadow and the sun, the layers of other landscapes, other souls languishing beneath above and beyond Jono’s very grounded yet somehow ethereal works.
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