Blue, Critter, Tree

What happens in the artwork by Fay Jones may be similar to what some researchers have postulated as the process that the brain goes through when it produces dreams.  The raw material of reality -images of people, animals and things- fire randomly in our unconscious brains. Even when asleep our minds abhor a vacuum, so we organize these random bits of information into narratives, however unlikely, to make sense of those randomly generated images. The title refers to the order in which the three copper plates were printed. It is a very simple idea, a budding tree with critters hidden in its branches, against a hazy mysterious background. You don't see the critters unless you pay attention and look hard at the image. –Artist statement

If one reads what has been written about her work (by herself and others), it is reasonable to come to the conclusion that Fay Jones simply paints what she sees- if one notes that she sees things differently than most people.  What happens in her painting may be similar to what some researchers have postulated as the process that the brain goes through when it produces dreams.  The raw material of reality -images of people, animals and things- fire randomly in our unconscious brains. Even when asleep our minds abhor a vacuum, so we organize these random bits of information into narratives, however unlikely, to make sense of those randomly generated images. However, Jones' images don't come from the unconscious; they come from her sketchbooks.