Chapter 2: A rebel paints after decades of the grind

Unlike Johnson, Matt Jones doesn’t paint what he sees; he paints what he feels. His work is driven by memories, emotions, and the jazz, blues and R&B music that he plays while making art. “I don’t look at anything when I paint,” he explains. “I can’t copy something. I just feel it and let the music guide me.”

Jones first picked up a paint brush at age 51, as an outlet for creative expression after decades working in the hospitality and beverage industries. His only training came from Bob Ross videos and some Asian art he liked. As a sales representative for Southern Wine and Spirits, Jones built rapport with customers by offering informal art classes during wine tastings.

Art became such a passion that Jones took a lesser-paying, more physically demanding job loading trucks in his early sixties so he could paint more. At 67 he became a full-time artist, painting under the name “Rebel” as a tribute to his unconventional path to creativity. Jones’s abstract, jazz-inspired pieces capture the energy of a moment, like a saxophonist under a streetlamp or a trumpet player in Central Park.

While not every piece makes it to a gallery, he embraces the imperfections, even laughing about the time he misspelled “Cabernet” on a wine-themed painting. Customers brought the error to his attention, but bought the painting anyway. “We love it,” they told Jones. “It’s not perfect, but it’s you.”

Now 70, the St. Louis-based artist has no intention of slowing down, creating two or three paintings daily, heading to 12 art shows a year, emphatically declaring on our video call that he is going to “die an artist.”

Threads and stages: two women weave new lives as artists and community supporters

Susan Rink’s “oh my god what am I doing” midlife epiphany came when she was meeting with the CEO of a Fortune 200 company in 2005. As she and her corporate communications team presented a meticulously crafted speech that took days to write, the CEO dismissed it entirely, opting instead to discuss the details of his planned golf outing.

“I felt insulted on behalf of my talented, hardworking employee who put his heart and soul into an outstanding piece of work,” Rink recalls. (Full disclosure, said employee is your reporter, who also remembers this ignominious meeting.) Shortly after, Rink took a voluntary separation package and walked away from decades in corporate communications at three large companies.

For the next 17 years, Rink ran her own consulting business, relishing the creativity and freedom it provided— a period she says was”terrifying yet gratifying.” In 2022 she completely retired and dedicated more time to being creative.

A class in digital photography sparked her transformation from a traditional quilter to artistic innovator, blending fabric, ceramics, digital photography, and even metals into striking, experimental creations. An avid quilter since the 1980s (I can personally vouch for the high-quality work, as both my sons received Rink creations when they were born), Rink evolved her craft using AI tools to manipulate digital photos and patterns. She calls it “original fabric design,” projecting the images onto fabric to produce one-of-akind art that is as tactile as it is visually captivating.

One standout piece—a pop-art interpretation of a childhood photo with her sister—was purchased by a client and turned into a wall hanging. Another work blends ceramic tiles with fibers and quilted fabric, forming a multidimensional piece that caught the eye of another potential buyer. (Rink wants to keep the piece, so she politely declined the offer.

Rink’s artistic journey isn’t just personal; it’s communal. She co-founded a group of textile artists in her home of Greenville, South Carolina, where they critique, learn, and grow together. She beams with pride when she talks about organizing their first group show, which featured 80 pieces from 17 artists.

“Getting a group of like-minded, artistic souls together is a really great thing for me,” she says with a smile on our video meeting.

“I don’t ever want to work a full-time job again.”

One of the “like-minded, artistic souls” Rink mentions is her friend Melissa Sturgis, a Greenville resident who shares her creative passion.

A trained actor with both undergraduate and master’s degrees in theater, Sturgis balanced her love for the arts with a career in PR while trotting the globe as the wife of a geologist (17 moves in 38 years.) Along the way, she performed in community productions and taught drama to kids, even sharing the stage with her son in a Slidell, Louisiana-based production of Oliver Twist.

Now 65 and settled with her husband in Greenville, South Carolina, Melissa serves on the board of the nonprofit Simpsonville Arts Foundation, Inc. (SAFI), dedicated to supporting artists through events like art walks, concerts, performances, and showcases. (Rink helps with the organization’s communications strategy. Sturgis calls her a “godsend.”)

Sturgis refers to retirement as her “third act,” which is as much about fostering joy and connection as it is about showcasing talent — whether it’s kids “finding comfort” on stage in a theatrical production, musicians lifting audiences with their performances, artisans selling their creations to support their passions, or seniors exuding joy when their art is displayed publicly for the first time.

Sturgis laments that funding for the arts is often the first to be cut during economic downturns, because she knows the power of creativity for individuals and communities. She shares a story from when her family was stationed in Terengganu, Malaysia and she was tutoring kids. Noticing a shy, quiet boy sketching, she complimented his drawing and encouraged him to draw the Petronas Towers, then the world’s tallest buildings, a few hundred miles away.

Decades later, she received the sketch in the mail, along with a “thank you” note from the student, who just graduated with an architecture degree from the University of Texas.

“All it takes is for someone to acknowledge another person,” Melissa reflects. “The arts can heal—they help us see what’s possible.”

Coming in the third installment of “Rocking the Second Act”: From a technology expert turned pilot to a corporate lawyer turned high school teacher to a college president turned rock-and-roll keyboardist, we’ll meet more inspiring individuals proving that it’s never too late to course-correct, change your tune, or turn the page on a new chapter.

Who needs a midlife crisis when you can have a midlife remix? Stay tuned!