Growing up, Jeremy Jones could often be found at his father’s side as he tinkered in the garage, crafting pieces such as cypress-and-resin clocks or tables. After a circuitous route—including stints designing footwear and wakeboards—Jones’ career led him to convert his own three-car garage into a studio fit for constructing one-of-a-kind, modern tables and consoles. The light-filled space features French doors, a 40-foot-wall outfitted with floor-to-ceiling racks packed with tools and a plentiful mix of crystals, metals, woods and geodes. “When it comes to my materials, I’m very inspired by nature,” he says. “We just got back from a road trip through North Carolina and Tennessee, and I found some crystals along the way that I’ll use for a new table that’s in the planning stages.”
Long known around Naples for his elaborate residential murals and finishing work, the artist founded Jeremy Jones Fine Finishes in 2001 and added furniture design to his repertoire about five years ago. His first piece was a coffee table he crafted for his own home as an experiment, using resin and some crystals he had left over from other projects. A client saw the table and requested some for her design shop, Paradise Furnishings. Then one of Jones’ friends—who just so happened to be a rep for a few furniture lines—encouraged him to make more. “That gave me confidence that I was onto something,” he says.
Eventually, his creations—which are all made by hand and delivered within five to eight weeks—caught the eye of Naples designer Judith Liegeois, who displays his furniture in her gallery and showroom, as well as CID Design Group, which has placed his pieces in projects all over the country. Jones also shows his work at East West Fine Art, where he recently sold one of his largest pieces to date, a 500-pound, brilliant blue lagoon-inspired coffee table with a steel base and a slab top crafted from six inches of resin and champagne gold crystalline fragments. Other pieces at the gallery include his Glacier Geode Table, featuring a cool-toned agate encased in a stone frame, and his ever-popular Martini Table, a small side table shaped like a martini glass and available in a variety of colors. Jones is now working on a nature-inspired version of the petite piece—one in the shape of a tulip—and he already has an idea for the next incarnation of the Lagoon Table.
Because of his experience in product design, the artist is diligent about creating 2D and 3D renderings before breaking out the power tools. “When the design is just for me, it’s more of a blueprint,” he explains. “But when clients hire me for a commission, I like to present them with more of an artistic rendering. It helps them ‘see’ the piece.” Even with all the attention his furniture designs have received recently, the Naples native still continues his primary work. “I may work on furniture for two weeks straight, and then spend the next few weeks entirely focused on faux finishes and murals,” he says. Although he could introduce his furnishings to a wider audience—taking them to High Point Market, for instance—churning out 100 orders for the same coffee table doesn’t sound all that appealing to him. “This has been more of an artistic, creative avenue for me,” he says.
