John D Wilson
"My first recollection of having an interest in art was at the age of 10 when I entered into a school Easter Card Competition and won first prize. This inspired me to carry on drawing, particularly incorporating my main interest at that time of aircraft and cars. Things changed when I was 12 – for Christmas I was given a set of oil paints and an easel (the easel I still use today 40 years later!). Painting in oil opened up a whole new world of colour and texture, as well as filling the house with the wonderful scent of linseed and turpentine.
I then enrolled in painting classes on a Saturday morning at the ‘Harrogate School of Art’, which I attended for about 2 years. I then took my art interest even further and attended a part time evening course where I was introduced to figure painting and also pop art. My high point at that time was a ‘pop art’ self-portrait, which was displayed as part of an exhibition in the Harrogate Art Gallery.
Due to the need to earn a living, painting unfortunately had to take a back seat for the next few years. I married and had 3 beautiful daughters whilst running my own small business for 25 years. For my own pleasure however, I did manage to continue to paint in my spare time.
It therefore wasn’t until the mid 1990’s that I actually went back to art more seriously and started exhibiting in the local galleries. I now have various galleries in the area requesting my work and I’ve had several successful exhibitions. Painting now takes up most of my time - I go to bed thinking of my latest painting and wake up with ideas for the next.
Finding a subject or idea for a painting can be a daunting task, and can often come from the most unlikely source. I remember once going to a Hockney exhibition, where a striking painting at the opposite end of the gallery caught my eye. I saw this painting as depicting a flight of stairs following up to some marble arches, through which I saw the sun sitting in a bright blue sky. As I got closer to the painting it became clear that it was actually nothing like that at all. It was in fact a wooden table standing on a veranda overlooking the sea. This later inspired me to paint the picture I first thought I’d seen."
