John was born in 1951 on the Rock of Gibraltar, a British colony located on the most southerly isthmus off the Spanish peninsular. He had a traditional Catholic upbringing and in 1961 was sent away to Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit run boarding school located in the North of England were he was to spend his formative years.

John in his student heydays.

Between 1969-73 John studied fine art and sculpture at London Kingston College. Subsequently he returned to his native land and taught art in Southern Spain for 6 years. His experience includes various portraiture commissions and a major public sculpture monument. In the last 15 years he has held various exhibitions in Spain Gibraltar and Morocco.

John in his studio in Gibraltar.

An exotic blend of Moroccan, Spanish & British cultural influences often comes through in Johns art. At other times his Christian convictions and zeal are at the core of his artistic expression with his subjects being portrayed in visual terms that reflect John's Christian spiritual perception. His expressionist painting style is a natural consequence of his desire to release the emotions and creative energy which pervade his personality whilst his sculptural works were strongly influenced by his personal encounter with Henry Moore at Much Hadam where he had the privilege of being shown around the sculptors work shop by the artist himself, an event which had a lasting impression on him.

Students working on a sculpture

John's own subjective interpretative style comes out in all his sculptures and paintings and it is this which gives his art its particular flavor and appeal. He very much feels that exactitude is not truth and for this reason is reluctant to do photographic portraits and prefers to be left free to use his own artistic expression in all his works. The fact he has not been bound by any individual cultural influences has been a liberating factor. He has always tried to free himself of subjective social or cultural prejudices and from the dictates of commercial necessity, all pressures that might otherwise influence his work and inhibit his artistic expression.