Tali Lennox: Art helped me heal after losing love of my life

The artist daughter of Annie Lennox has opened up about her grief after losing her boyfriend — and said painting has helped her healing process.

Tali Lennox, 24, was left devastated by the death of photographer Ian Jones during a kayaking trip on the Hudson river in New York in 2015.

They capsized and Jones, after helping Lennox cling to the kayak, was swept away.

His body was found days later. Lennox posted a picture of herself and Jones, 32, on Instagram, writing: “My heart is shattered. My best friend, my soul mate, my partner in crime & creativity, the LOVE & LIGHT of my life is no longer with me. All the love that has been sent to me is giving me the strength to get through this.”

Almost two years later, Lennox — a former model who became a full-time artist after Jones’s death — said she could not have got through her grief without painting: “Art helped me heal so much. I don’t know how I would have coped without that.

"I like forms of healing that come from within. You don’t have to go to a therapist [or] lean on someone’s shoulder. You have a kind of sacred space from yourself.”

Tali, whose first major show was at New York’s Chelsea Hotel last year, said: “When you go through the experience I did you can’t let it cripple you. You have to welcome it, understand it, embrace these heavy things in life. Having that attitude has helped me cope with change.”

The artist — daughter of Eurythmics star Lennox and Israeli film producer Uri Fruchtmann — said the tragedy developed her work: “Before the accident I had been doing portrait painting.

"I loved the process but it wasn’t coming from anywhere deep down. But after that happened, it cracked me open creatively.”

She is collaborating on a piece of art with fashion designer Nicky Zimmermann. Tali said she was very close to her mother and father — and had periods in her youth when she listened only to Lennox’s music.