Push the Sky Painting

In 1999 John graduated with a BA Hons degree in Three Dimensional Design from KIAD (now the University College for the Creative Arts at Rochester), having previously received two diplomas in art & design from the South East Essex College of Art & Design. Whilst at KIAD John expressed himself more and more through his love of painting and drawing. Shortly after leaving University, and with the absence of a studio, John started to paint en plein air. This helped to developed his style as he needed to paint quickly to capture his subject. "My inspiration has always been big skies and landscapes, especially dramatic sunsets or menacing stormy skies. Watching a weather system evolve in real time and then trying to paint what you are seeing is both daunting and exciting at the same time. Because it’s changing so fast, you really don’t get too much time to think, you are reacting, often on instinct. I like to think that you are only ever really creating the impression of that particular moment, recording the feeling, almost like a recalling a memory." When in 2005 John moved to Devon he acquired a great little artist studio in the middle of the countryside. Although he painted less en plein air having this base helped John’s work to develop, and he started to explore and experiment more and more with different techniques. In 2013 John moved to Somerset where he joined SCAN (Somerset Contemporary Artist’s Network). After a year he was invited to join the committee as part of the “Exhibition Team” to help curate group exhibitions. Currently John is very active in organising exhibitions, designing and running the group’s website and managing SCAN’s social media presence. In 2017 John was finally able to become a full time artist and is continuing to develop his own unique style.