Jono
Stapleton

A golf ball floating on top of a cup of tea. I had a different plan, but after listening to commentary and hearing players announced onto the tee, while holding a cup of tea, I painted this quickly on a blue background as a simple starting point to motivate the rest of my work.

An ice cream topped with two tennis balls, stacked like scoops. After completing “On the Tea”, I became inspired by phrases used in sport that could be reinterpreted to create a different meaning. I took the phrase “Second Serve” from tennis and turned it into a visual pun, painting two tennis balls on top of an ice cream cone.

A honey dipper dripping honey onto a cricket wicket. This piece was inspired by a really good friend of mine. I used the deep red of a Kookaburra cricket ball as inspiration for the bold, block colours, building on the look from “On the Tea”.

Inspired by our friend Hope’s phrase, “Just a splash”, at the Railway Tavern in Clapham North. It reminded me of my mum’s familiar request when topping up her wine. I chose bold pink and bottle-green lettering, marking a new confidence in experimenting with larger-scale paintings.

This piece continues my exploration of sporting phrases reinterpreted through food. I wanted to build on the bold block-colour approach from my earlier work, using bright oranges and vermilion to make the image stand out. The chilli on the rugby tee brings together food and sport in a playful visual pun.

I experimented with smaller brushes and different brush techniques to get more precision. Compared with my earlier work, this piece shows me becoming more focused and confident, moving from a vague idea towards a more detailed and technically accomplished painting.

A real eureka moment, sparked by my girlfriend saying, “We’ve got time, we’ve got time.” Inspired by the wordplay between time and thyme, I deliberately spilt fresh thyme in my Fulham kitchen to photograph as a painting reference. I was in a creative flow, fuelled by friends’ ideas and family encouragement.

One of my first darker pieces, painted in deep navy blue, playing on the football phrase “bringing on a sub” by taking the substitute literally as a Subway sandwich. There’s also a personal Nottingham Forest reference: the board shows Chris Wood (11) coming off and my favourite player, Ryan Yates (22), coming on.

Inspired by the phrase “step up to the plate”, this piece features a baseball player preparing to hit a double-stacked cheeseburger. The player’s Chicago Cubs-inspired jersey reads “Fulham”, combining memories of Chicago with where I was living at the time.

This piece plays with the phrase ‘It Takes Two to Tango’ alongside the Tango soft drink. One of my proudest moments was when Tango commented on the piece after I posted it on Instagram. It was exciting to have the brand itself recognise and praise the work.

This piece plays with the phrase “chalk and cheese”, meaning two totally different things. I really like how it turned out. It’s a large, eye-catching piece and I wanted to experiment with the background to give it a different feel from my earlier work.

This piece brings together the idea of a party punch and a knockout in boxing. The bright red punch and orange slices make a bold centre, with the boxers acting out the phrase on top.

This piece playfully connects dunking a biscuit in tea with dunking a basketball, combining two favourites. The mug pictured was my university mug, which broke soon after.

This plays on “going for gold” with the finish line replaced by my favourite tea. The box is drawn in careful detail, including the rural imagery like the stone wall, sheep, and house, echoing the Yorkshire setting.

This came together quickly, almost as a joke about the phrase itself and my head being full of ideas at the time. It’s a playful twist that made me smile, and the bright red gave it a bold, punchy feel.