John Bell

Born in Sunderland in the north east of England I have been producing original paintings for over 50 years.

Until recently I lived with my wife and two dogs on the picturesque island of Mallorca, Spain.

I currently live in Somersham, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom.

The work I now create is partially based on a style I first developed for illustrating books. My paintings are watercolour based, enhanced through layers and then finished with variety of mixed medium to create the effects much favoured by current art-related product manufacturers. (Finishing touch mediums used on each of my watercolour paintings can include acrylic, hard and soft pastel, gouache, ink, charcoal, and graphite pencil).

My work is very popular with greetings card manufacturers with over 300 of my paintings currently appear on greetings cards worldwide.

Other than an ‘A’ level in GCE art I was awarded in my teens I have had no ‘formal’ training in art.

I have however studied art in depth and in particular the post impressionist movement that flourished in Europe in the later part of the 19th century.

A member of that school - Walter Langley, a watercolour artist and one of the founders of the Newlyn School of artists has been the greatest influence on the work I currently produce.

I hold a Master of Education Degree and for a number of years taught adults how to teach.

Although now retired I do still provide talks on an art related subjects.

Five of my paintings were accepted for major exhibitions in the UK in 2020.