Artist Statement

John uses urban life predominantly to convey the action of the tangible visible world converging with the ethereal or time converging with perpetuity. He encourages the viewer to see society as a spiritual construct, where invisible realities shape contemporary culture. And that people are not passive subjects passing through time, but significant players in an epic drama with the ability to act as conduits by which these invisible realities transform culture at the cutting edge.

When Art came Alive

Mirror to my Soul

I well remember the first time art actually came alive to me. It was through a book by Joseph Zbukvic titled 'Mastering atmosphere and mood in watercolour.' His artwork reached deep inside my soul, engaging emotion, desire...the kind of stuff you don't even know is there. It was like a doorway to a part of me I didn't even know existed...and awakened in me a desire for art. Of course, I had read countless articles by other artists with pictures of their art, had some of their books, but the connection always remained fairly superficial. But now, for the first time, art had penetrated to the core of my being...I now understood art as a mirror to my soul...revealing desire as it invited me to go deeper.

Why I am drawn to Urban Life

Zbukvic became something of a mentor to me in my formative years as I often tried to replicate his hazy landscapes using similar techniques to his own. His book was 'the book' on art...now spattered with paint and well worn...a treasure of sorts to me. But with every journey the student has to strike out, and new paths opened up as my experimenting began to limit my subject matter to urbanscapes in particular. But I grew up in a village, loved nature and the woods, loved the wide open expanse of rolling hills and the wind in my face. So why am I drawn to urban life? Sophisticated, modern, urbane, chic, contemporary, cutting edge...it's what urban life reflects..what it communicates... what it informs that is core to an understanding of my design and unique expression. And the movement, the energy, the risk...inspire that pioneering spirit with the kind of exhilaration that carries me into the zone...and there...the dreams I consigned to a journal become possibilities...I come alive.

Urbanscapes and in the Zone

Colour Talks

Time and Perpetuity

I love monochromes, black and white photos...there is something timeless about them. But I also love the bold statement of colour when contrasted with it. If colour is incisive, contemporary, speaking in the moment...then monochromes are always speaking. And so they are the perfect foil, where the contrast between them highlights the statements of both. The blocks of colour injected into the work are the communications that punctuate contemporary society, whereas the greys and blacks communicate the eternal context...they are always speaking. Their intersection in my paintings identifies the bridge between time and perpetuity...it is a bold, dynamic, conspicuous statement that symbolises the ethereal converging with the earth realm at the cutting edge of society...penetrating and transforming the culture.

Realistic Impression and the Abstract

And that kind of transformation is really reflected in my style. On the one hand I paint in a fairly measured and controlled way to portray the realism of modern contemporary society, but then I often transition into spontaneous expression with bold accents of colour in the work. The realistic impression really provides the framework for more explosive expression as it is punctuated by the abstract and this again reflects the incisive nature of the ethereal transforming society.

In the Flow

My Subject and Process

I need an immediate connection to any subject I paint...to the mood, the atmosphere, the story....there has to be a resonance on the inside where the desire to create is birthed. The subject has to engage my heart with significance, informing something of my raison d'être. And in the execution of the piece I need a seamless transition between impression and the abstract...a fluidity of motion that makes room for spontaneous expression. The bounds of structure enable that kind of dynamism to infuse my artwork...it is my modus operandi for cultivating my art and my life. And that corresponds very well with the medium of watercolour where the draw is the uncertainty...I can never be sure of the outcome...there is structure but with all the possibilities that risk brings when large amounts of water are mixing with flowing pigment on the paper...and then I am in the flow...my senses fully awakened to move with the possibilities unfolding on the paper...it is exhilarating and informative...as once again I realise I have to stay away from any outcome that is contrived...to risk...and experiment...and just be.