Swindon LINK Magazine Carries Full Page Feature About Artist Rhona Jack in June’s Edition.

The June 2025 edition of Swindon LINK magazine had a full one-page feature about me written by Barrie Hudson, because I have been busy promoting the Swindon Open Studios Community Art Event in September. I was surprised to get the call and invitation to be interviewed as this a page dedicated to people in Swindon who are deemed influential; “Movers and Shakers” if you like. It is a real honour to have been included (and it feels weird to be writing about this)!

I believe the reason Barrie called is that I have known him since 2000 AD when he was a journalist for the Swindon Advertiser and I launched Blue Click PR Ltd., a specialist IT Public Relations agency. I used to do the PR for the Museum of Computing which reached a worldwide audience through CNN, SKY News and BBC World Service. I also wrote press releases and case studies that were approved by my clients’ Blue Chip clients in the Tech and Banking world – 48 multinationals in total! My success culminated in helping Barclays and HSBC win TWO Global Banking Technology awards and get a “Highly Commended” as well - beating 321 other entries!

There is a bit about my days as Promotions Assistant for Swindon’s much-loved OASIS Leisure Centre when we launched the famous DOMEBUSTERS which boosted sales of swimming tickets to over 1 Million in a single year – up from 500,000 the previous year!  

However, the Swindon LINK article's focus is on my "new career”, which seems to be gathering momentum: that of painting in acrylics and watercolours. It explains how Swindon Open Studios (SOS) offers the general public a “sneak peak” behind the scenes in artists’ and craftspeople’ studios and workshops. SOS is an informal way of seeing art and getting to know what has inspired each piece of unique artwork. For me, there is a particular personal challenge in each piece I create, and I love sharing these stories with others.

Barrie was fascinated by my art background because my Father was a cartoonist for children’s magazines on Fleet Street during its media publishing heyday. Then he explains how and why my passion for creating art was reignited during a period of ill-health. I have found that drawing and painting is incredibly useful when you are going through a healing process.

If you’d like to read the article in full, see https://swindonlink.com/news/rj0625/ SWINDON LINK magazine has a readership of over 105,000 in print and online, so I genuinely hope we can reach more of Swindon’s 230,000 residents so they can visit our Creative community and perhaps appreciate the joy of owning a unique piece of art.

To find out more and plan your visit to this wonderful FREE Community art event during the last two weekends in September, please see www.swindonopenstudios.org

I will be exhibiting at Great Moorleaze Farm the FIRST weekend ONLY on the 20^th/21^st September. To get there, go to Junction 15 of the M4 and follow signs to Wanborough. It’s just after the M4 roundabout on the left.  N.B. Our venue hosts several artists and we are open LONGER than other SOS places: from 12 noon until 7pm on both Saturday and Sunday, to give people time to visit the many talented artists who call Swindon “HOME”!