The Art and Soul of Jason Stone

About the Book

The Art and Soul of Jason Stone is a coffee table book of art created by Jason Matthew Stone throughout his life. It includes a few poems, as well. In the forward to his first book “A Stone’s First Throw ”, one of his uncle’s wrote in the forward, “Jason’s first volume was created between Jason's 17th and 24th years. Those years were times of great change stirred into a society steeped in materialism, wealth and comfort. For Jason and his peers, there were deep uncertainties and double standard confusing the search for meaning and mission in life. But when all was done and said, there arose theme in Jason's poetry. One is absorbed by its magical winds and warps which captivate the imagination while revealing a young man's struggle to maintain a sensitive self in a convoluted world. The sincerity of this poetry leads us to hope that as Jason Matthew experiences his future - Stone's First Throw precedes a next.” Unfortunately, Jason did not live to write the next book but he spent the next seven years painting, sketching and writing. The Art and Soul of Jason Stone depicts a sampling of his work. His art has the same captivating magic as his poetry. When writing or sketching, Jason’s talent just poured from his head to his hand in minutes. But if you take the time to look closely you will see that those few minutes came from a talent that can only be explained as a gift from God. During his short thirty one years of life Jason never had a creative block. From the time he was two, when he drew an exact likeness of Raggedy Andy as a gift for his great grandmother, to the day of his death he kept drawing and writing. This book is meant to be enjoyed and studied and enjoyed again.

About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHORS The authors of this book are Carol McGraw and Paul Stone Jr. They are the parents of Jason Matthew Stone-artist, poet and sometimes musician. The role Carol and Paul had in the making of this book was to raise an extraordinary talent and compile his work after his untimely death at the age of 31. It is Jason that is the true author of this book so aptly titled “The Art and Soul of Jason Stone.” Jason was born in Independence, Mo on July 10, 1974, raised in Blue Springs, Mo. and died in Independence September 28, 2005. From the age of eleven to his adult years he was a skateboarder, an artist, a poet and a typical teenager with many friends. At the age of twenty life changed for Jason in many ways but the most significant is that he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He learned to live with this disease but by the time he was 25 he developed congestive heart failure and for the remainder of his life battled two diseases. But please do not think his talent was due to the schizophrenia. He never like labels and never wanted to be known as a schizophrenic artist. His artistic ability was first noticed as a small toddler and matured throughout his life. It was amazing to watch him at work when sometimes it would take just minutes to develop a piece. It was the same with his poetry which he starting writing as a teenager. His words were profound and soulful, his talent a gift from God. He was passionate, humble, gentle, intelligent and the bravest man we’ve have ever known. Paul Stone and Carol McGraw live in Independence, Mo and work diligently to share the magic and the blessing of Jason Stone.