John Courtney

Meet John

Nothing happens in a vacuum.

I didn’t just wake up one day and decide to make art. Although I did (lol). The idea was always there, It just took me some time to get here.
 
 Like everyone, I am the culmination of my lived experience. All of the things I have done, have led me to a time and place where making my art is not only a privilege, it is a necessity.
 
For a time, I had divorced myself from all things creative. a very long time, I knew I had to get back into my art. With the same excitement and the same intentions as I started with 25 years earlier, I began again.

Those same feelings of clarity, contentment and joy came back. My lost creativity was returning. I needed to hang onto this feeling, and the best way to do so was committing my time and energy to my art full time.

Please allow me to share the culmination of my lived experiences.

Bold, energetic, authentic and original.

" A combination of acrylics and mixed media on large scale canvas.
Freedom is found in the process of creating. There is no desired outcome or envisioned final product. It doesn't matter where I start, it matters how I get there. There are no mistakes or rules. I know a piece is finished when I get a certain feeling. A feeling of satisfaction that can only be derived from going through the creative process.
 
My art has its own style, which I describe as authentic, bold and energetic.
The finished work is definitely abstract, but the subject matter is derived from real life.

Having said that, for the most part, I have no desire to recreate what I see. My art comes from a place filled with the need to create. I reinterpret my influences and experiences into abstract images. Architecture, technology, pop culture, music, art, politics, fashion and the challenges or triumphs I have experienced, all play a part in what I create. There is no end result in mind when I start a new piece. The idea almost always starts with color and it evolves from there. Creating depth through the use of paper collage,layers of paint and overlapping mediums, the art emerges
 
 I like to create primarily on oversized canvas. A combination of acrylic paint, spray paint, oil pastel, pages torn from magazines and books, hand cut stencils, news paper, masking tape, pencil and marker.  
 
If I can paint with it, spray through it, tear it up or and paint over it, I use it."

— John Courtney