About Walking Iris Studio

My name is Whitney Genae Jones, and I’m the artist behind Walking Iris Studio.

This studio was born from both a breaking point and a beginning. After years in the corporate world, I found myself burned out and disconnected from the creativity I had loved since childhood. Becoming an artist wasn’t a new dream, it was one I had carried for most of my life. But like so many others, I was often told it wasn’t practical, not stable, not something you build a life around. So I set it aside.

Walking Iris Studio is my way of coming back to that dream of choosing to create anyway.

The name of this studio holds a story very close to my heart. It comes from a dear friend and coworker who I lost too soon. She had a gift for growing beautiful things, and the last gift she gave me was a walking iris propagated from her own garden. After she passed, that plant became something more: a quiet reminder of her, of resilience, and of the way beauty continues to grow, even through grief.

This studio carries that meaning forward.

Outside of the studio, I spend much of my time hiking and backpacking, often with a camera in hand. The trails, quiet landscapes, and small details I find along the way become some of my greatest sources of inspiration. Many of my pieces begin as moments captured outdoors, fleeting, often overlooked, but deeply felt.

Through ink, watercolor, and digital work, I create pieces inspired by nature, travel, and the delicate balance between beauty, whimsy, and the more shadowed, fleeting parts of life. Each piece is an exploration of growth, memory, and reclaiming something that once felt out of reach.

Walking Iris Studio is, at its core, a return to creativity, to intention, and to the belief that it’s never too late to build the life you once imagined.