Residing in Colorado since 2004, John is originally from western New York, and studied design and art history at Rochester Institute of Technology, and then illustration at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Going to college in southern California provided multiple opportunities to explore the United States on his travels back and forth to his parent's home in western New York. These trips nurtured his appreciation of the land and fostered a growing love of the Rocky Mountain west in particular.
Following college, work took him from Los Angeles to Minneapolis and then to New York City where he worked as a Designer and Art Director for a number of design groups and television networks.
Whenever he and his wife would leave NYC for a weekend, the landscape would have a strong impact on him, reminding him of his upbringing, when, if not playing baseball, John would spend many a summer day working the fields for his father on the family tree nursery, working in "wind and rain and weather".
Living in New York City provided opportunities for a different kind of culture, that of great art in museums and galleries. The Metropolitan Museum of Art became a favorite, as did the Frick Museum and MoMa. Retrospectives on Corot, Monet, Lucian Freud, and exhibits featuring the Hudson River School Painters, Van Gogh, and George Inness among others, caused John to grow in his appreciation of great art and its history. When he became a "hands off" Design Director in 2001, he decided to get "hands on" and began painting and drawing when he could find time between work and a growing family.
9/11 happened, and soon John was meeting weekly just blocks from ground zero, with former National Council of the Arts member, Mako Fujimura, who gathered artists of various disciplines together for coffee and bagels, to engage in discussions of art, faith and purpose. Englishman, Nigel Goodwin, an occasional guest at the group became the catalyst for John to pursue this call in the arts, eventually moving his family to Colorado in 2004 to begin pursuing painting in earnest.
John pulls much of his inspiration from the varied western landscape in and surrounding Colorado, where John and his wife, Lisa, reside. John continues to pursue growth and excellence, and a significance in his work.