As a boy growing up in Mesa, Garron Jones would tag along to work with his father, a custom home builder, helping out from time to time and picking up tips and tricks about home building along the way. Then Jones got his big break one day in Hollywood.

His dad was working on a remodeling job for the actor John Lithgow, who was looking to paint over some old murals on his walls with something fresh and different. He asked Jones’ dad if he knew anyone who could do the work.

“He said, ‘Yeah, I have someone in mind,’ ” says Jones. “He asked me to do it. I had never really done any murals before, except for some things in my friends’ bedrooms.”

That was 10 years ago, and Jones has since built a name among Valley homeowners and interior designers with his outstanding work in faux finishes, trompe l’oeil and murals.

“Things just snowballed after that job in Hollywood,” he says. “I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I just figured it out as I went along.”

To say he didn’t know what he was doing is being modest. Jones worked with a painter for years as a teenager and picked up the basics of painting and what you can and cannot do with the medium.

And as an artist, he had a knack for painting and drawing from an early age.

Growing up, the eight Jones kids didn’t have a television. Their parents wanted to encourage them to spend their time exploring their interests and talents.

“They signed us up for a lot of classes and activities,” he says. “My mom knew right away that I like art a lot.”

He would check out books from the library on how to draw and bring the results to school, to show his friends.

“They never believed that I really did it,” he says. “They would say, ‘No way, you didn’t draw that.’ ”

Jones now works with a crew of four in homes in Arizona and other nearby states. Even after all his experience, his friends and clients are left with a sense of disbelief at the beauty of some of his creations.

“His work is really just amazing,” says Ann Cook of Gold Canyon. He painted a bathroom in her home so that the walls looked like marble. “People touch it and still can’t believe it’s not real.”

Jones has lived his whole life in the East Valley, except for the two years he spent as a missionary in Japan. He enjoys working with the people here, who he says are generally laid-back enough to let him do his own thing.

“I’m kind of a perfectionist,” he says. “I like it when people tell me what they are looking for and then stand back and let me work. I’m really good with color and with coming up with something new and creative.”

Now Jones’ son Sterling often accompanies him to job sites to watch him work.

“There’s this one house he did in Scottsdale, where he painted baby angels on the ceiling,” says Sterling, who considers his dad a great artist. “That’s one of my favorites.”

source : www.eastvalleytribune.com