Born in Detroit, MI in 1961, he grew up in northern Indiana and moved to Virginia in 1988. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University at South Bend, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Radford University in 1992.
Initially interested in a career as a wildlife artist, John began selling his landscape paintings in the early 1980's. He has a solid foundation in academic realism, and worked many years drawing the figure and painting images from life. Always an active observer and avid learner, his studies enlarged his perspective and expanded the art he made.
After undergraduate school he explored capturing presence in abstract works. He soon began incorporating found objects into collages and installations, and created large scale outdoor works that were intentionally ephemeral. In his current work he has returned to painting and making objects, often incorporating non-traditional elements directly into the painted surface.
He founded and directed a cooperative art gallery in
South Bend, IN. He worked for fifteen years in art museums, as an exhibit designer, graphic designer, inservice and outreach educator. He concluded his museum career as the Director of Education at the Art Museum of Western Virginia (now the Taubman Museum of Art). He enjoys volunteering in various community programs and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Grandin Theatre in Roanoke.
He currently resides in Roanoke and loves the outdoors and the lush mountain region of southwestern Virginia. Along with creating, John enjoys hiking, biking, wandering woods and river banks, exploring new places, visiting with friends, strolling downtown or in his neighborhood
often accompanied by his ever-patient son Anselm.