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ARTIST STATEMENT AND GENERAL BACKGROUND
SHOWS/EXHIBITS
AWARDS/HONORS
MEMBERSHIPS
EDUCATION
ARTICLE: The Cultural Times
ARTIST STATEMENT AND GENERAL BACKGROUND:
“The landscape has always spoken to me, even from my earliest memories growing up in the country working the fields on my father’s tree nursery in Western NY. At best, the mundane can become music, even a symphony, the ordinary, beautiful. Painting for me, is translating to canvas what the eye “hears”, and doing so in a way that considers the lessons of the artists who have come before.”
In college, John studied design at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, and then illustration while on scholarship at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. John began painting on weekends in 2001. In 2004, he left a successful 18 year career as a designer and art director in television, and moved with his family from New York to Colorado to pursue painting full time. John has been invited the last two years to show in the American Masters Show at the Salmagundi Club in New York City. Additionally, he has been juried into the 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010 Oil Painters of America National Exhibits. His painting, “Trail’s End At Crater Lake,” won the top landscape award in the 2006 show. In 2007 Mr. Taft was featured in "Landscapes of Colorado", a book curated by Ann Scarlett Daley, Associate Curator of the Institute of American Art at the Denver Art Museum. In 2008, John's painting, "Hidden Valley" was awarded second place out of over 330 paintings at the Nomadas del Arte's plein-air show in Santa Fe.
SHOWS/ EXHIBITS:
One Man show, Vail International Gallery, Vail, CO July 23 - Aug. 7, 2010
American Masters at the Salmagundi Club, NY. May, 2009 & 2010
Oil Painters of
America, National Exhibit and Sale, 2006-2008, 2010
Coors Western Art Show, Opening night auction. Denver. January 2009
Salon du Musee, Denver Art Museum benefit, November, 2008
Nomadas del Arte, Plein-air show, March 2008, 2009, 2010
December, 2007: 3 Man Show, Pinon Fine Art
November, 2007: le Jeune Show, Denver Art Museum benefit
"Landscapes of Colorado" exhibit coinciding with book release
2007 Pinon Fine Art, "On the Water" show
2007 Invitational Colorado Governor’s Show
2006 America in Miniature show, Gilcrease Museum
Pinon Fine Art “Let it Snow” show
2006 Invitational Colorado Governor’s Show
Pinon Fine Art, Spring show, March 2006
Pinon Fine Art, 4 Man show, Denver, October, 2005
OPA Central Regional Show, October, 2005
Arts For the Parks, Mini 100, September 2005
Rocky Mountain Plein-Air Painters paint-out Winter Park 2005/06
Rocky Mountain Plein-Air Painters paint-out Estes Park 2005
Longmont ArtWalk, 2005, 2006
AWARDS/HONORS/ARTICLES:
American Masters at the Salmagundi Club, NY. May, 2009 & 2010
Nomadas del Arte,
Plein-air show, Honorable Mention, April, 2010
Nomadas del Arte, Plein-air show, 2nd place award, March 2008
August 2007 Southwest Art Magazine, "Landscapes of Colorado"
2006 Oil Painters of America National Exhibition, Award of Excellence
June 2006, Cultural Times Magazine feature article, “Artist on the Cusp”
April 2006 “Artist to Watch”, Southwest Art Magazine
2006 America in Miniature show, Gilcrease Museum
2006 Invitational Colorado Governor’s Show
2005 OPA Central Regional Show
2005 Arts for the Parks Mini 100 Show
MEMBERSHIPS:
Oil Painters of America
Rocky Mountain Plein-Air Painters
EDUCATION:
Art Center College of Design, Illustration major, 1981-1983
Rochester Institute of Technology, Associate Degree in Design, 1979-1981
Other art studies:
Workshops: Scott Christensen, Quang Ho, T. Allen Lawson, Michael Lynch
Barnstone Studio, Coplay, PA, Drawing instruction, 1993
John Winger, Hamburg, NY 9th grade public school art teacher,
who helped establish in me a broad appreciation of art in general.
THE CULTURAL TIMES, June 2006
FEATURE ARTICLE
“JOHN TAFT…ARTIST ON THE CUSP”
By Stew Mosberg
Many people pursue careers on the more commercial side of their given talent; forsaking their muse in order to pay bills. Reporters, for example, might have their hearts set on writing the great American novel, while session musicians might long to compose a world-class symphony, and graphic designers might hope to one day crawl outside the box and paint museum quality canvases.
John Taft studied design and illustration at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and later at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, two of the best art schools in the country. An eighteen-year award-winning career as a design director in New York City is not something one walks away from easily. But in 2004 Taft uprooted his family and moved to Colorado to chase his dream to earn a living by painting full time. At workshops in Jackson Hole taught by Jim Wilcox and Scott Christensen, Taft finally gained the confidence to make the transition.
His work has already garnered much praise and he is rapidly becoming a painter to watch, and collect. CX talked to John and asked about his work and process.
CX: You studied with Jim Wilcox and Scott Christensen; can you describe each experience and what you came away with?
JT: “Jim’s workshop was mostly an introduction to plein-air painting… It was the beginning of my commitment to becoming a painter. At the time, my wife and I were evaluating if this was a career change we should seriously consider in the future. I was encouraged by others, and met artists that were selling work, and I saw that it was possible. Scott’s workshops were longer and more intense. He jokingly referred to his first workshop as, “The Dead Artist’s Course”, since he was teaching established fundamentals that were more commonly known among such early twentieth century artists as Edgar Payne, and John Carlson. Scott’s approach helped me to simplify the scene before me, and provided a rich approach for painting from life.”
CX: Who are other inspirational artists for you historically and contemporary?
JT: “Many historical artists over the years have inspired me. Michelangelo is probably my all time favorite. Camille Corot, whom Monet referred to as “The father of us all”, also George Inness, Winslow Homer, Isak Levitan, and Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Sargent, to name a few. Contemporary artists include Odd Nerdrum whose work is original, technically unsurpassed, and intriguing, and Clyde Aspevig, in whose work I feel a singular integrity with the American landscape.”
CX: Describe a typical “work” day.
JT: “ I have yet to find a typical workday. There are many aspects to this career that are common to starting any small business, and have nothing to do with art. These aspects help keep “typical” out of the equation. But I do like to start painting early in the day, and I try to divide my painting time evenly between outdoor and studio work, preferring to spend several days working outdoors, followed by several days in the studio. Also, though my focus is the landscape, I try to draw and/or paint from the figure weekly, as well. (I am currently working on my first portrait painting commission).”
CX: How do you choose a subject or location for a painting? What motivates you most about the visual?
JT: “When I moved to Colorado, I realized as I began painting that I was developing a “relationship” with the West that was not from a tourist’s point of view. So gradually, the landscape, as revealed in it’s variety of light and weather conditions began to speak to me, and I started to understand it in a more personal way, and it is from there that I choose what to paint.”
“Sometimes it is seeing the beauty in a scene that we normally overlook. My favorite plein-air piece from when I first began painting five years ago was just a sublime, “trees reflecting in still water scene”. That beauty nourished me especially since my day job would never allow that kind of pause. What was significant to me was the fact that the trees in the scene hid an interstate heading into Manhattan. Twenty feet behind me traffic commuted back and forth, and at my feet all sorts of garbage floated along the edge of the water. Like the painting, the stand of trees reflecting in the water was a nourishing oasis amidst the hectic environment.”
“I find, as a representational artist, a marriage between the abstract “notes” of a composition (line, shape, value, color, texture, edges), and the relationship to the subject. Originally, when I began painting, I found the relationship of forms and shapes to be what motivated me. As I have developed, of those six “notes”, I am now most motivated by color. This might surprise people familiar with my work so far because I would not say that it’s obvious. Yet color is becoming profound to me-one of those simple pleasures. I find distinguishing subtleties of color exciting, and challenging. I hope to grow to fulfill that sense in my work in the future.”
CX: Do you always work au Plein Air; or do you sketch, photograph, do studies on site, and complete the painting in the studio?
JT: “Plein-air painting is foundational. It makes sense that painting from life is the best way to see your subject. However, with the landscape, the light may last a couple hours, or may change within minutes, so I will paint, but also may make small pencil sketches with notes, and take photos. Once you are a seasoned painter of life, photographs are a great tool that can be referenced especially for details, without controlling the artist.”
CX: How, if anything, did your years in graphic arts prepare you for what you are doing today?
JT: “For me, becoming a full-time artist has been a journey. I see what I am doing now to be the result of may years of life. Even though I was not painting it was always a background desire. My years in graphic arts provided many opportunities to come up with creative design solutions, to work collaboratively with other creative people, and to understand business better. One general life lesson I learned is that inspiration comes in the doing, and doing means just getting started. On a more general note, my work took me to NYC. I always wanted to be back in open spaces, but the city was a tremendous experience. The first time I went to the MET, I was there when it opened, and it wasn’t until 4:30 that I thought about actually eating lunch (and that was unusual).”
CX: Is there anything in your “former” career that you have taken with you into the new life as a fine artist?
JT: “I think that my “vision” of how to approach a career in fine art is generally informed by my years of working in a creative business. I think the main thing that I have taken with me is a more developed sense of design that contributes to my process. I am glad I made time to draw over the years. I sketched and drew from the figure most weeks. This helped me to mature as a draftsman, which is the foundation of painting. As a designer and art director, I always saw my career stemming from my ability to draw. Michelangelo called design, drawing, and said, “Let him who has attained the possession of this be assured that he possesses a great treasure.”
CX: How has your worked evolved in the past several years?
JT: “I see growth. And I think that even though I did not have time to paint as I do now, I continued to mature as an artist, coming to peace with creating (contemporary) work that does not have to appear avant-guard, as I was more prone to think necessary in my twenties. I think that at mid-life I am able to enter the field with a stability that I would not have had earlier.” -CX