Fine Art Blog

Category: John Wilson

  • Review of The ‘ART’ Collection by artist John Wilson & his ‘Mini Masters’ paintings

    Released early last year, John Wilson’s exciting series was named simply as the ‘ART’ COLLECTION:


    Official Banner for John Wilson’s the ‘Art’ COLLECTION
    (Click banner to view all 7 pieces)

    …featuring limited edition prints that are bright, colourful and full of surprises, surprises that as fans, we have now come to expect from his art. In the ‘ART’ COLLECTION, Wilson has moved from just his usual (art gallery) backgrounds, to now including his character’s homes, never previously featured up until that point.



    ‘Bedtime Story’ limited edition paper print by John Wilson

    John has included some famous modern paintings in mini format in the background: including Andy Warhol’s ‘Campbell’s Soup Can,’ seen in the ‘Masters II.’

    Once again, he has also included the world’s most famous Old Masters paintings (or as he calls it ‘Mini Masters’) in his backgrounds, including Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ (which has previously been recreated by some other modern popular artists we have blogged about: Rolf Harris and Caroline Shotton) & ‘The Mona Lisa’ by Leonardo DaVinci (also recreated by Caroline Shotton) to name just two.



    ‘The Masters II’ limited edition on canvas board by John Wilson

    John Wilson tells us that his ‘Mini Masters’ take him around four to five hours each to create and he feels he has to make them perfect to the original (except in miniature!) as firstly they are such well known and respected works of art they deserve such gravitas & secondly he feels if they were not perfect then his finished artwork would not have the same effect. In Wilson’s ‘ART’ COLLECTION there are 19 mini Masters, can you spot them all?



    ‘The Masters I’ limited edition on canvas board by John Wilson

    The 7 limited edition pieces featured in the John Wilson ‘ART’ COLLECTION where:
    – Bath Time
    – Bedtime Story
    – In The Spotlight
    – Smile
    – The Lowry
    – The Masters I
    – The Masters II

    Stayed tuned as in our next John Wilson post we will reveal all of the John Wilson ‘Mini Masters’ from the ‘ART’ COLLECTION, and you can check your answers!

    Links:
    What Is Naive Art?
    A World of Their Own: Twentieth Century British Naive Painters a book by Jill & Martin Leman
    Links to naive artist’s websites

    Thanks

    Tom

  • Elephants Parade London 2010 – Love Art, Love Elephants!

    Many of you may have ‘herd’ 🙂 about the Elephant parade that happened in London in June and July this year…


    Above: elephants painted by Peter Smith (left) and John Wilson (right)

    The Elephant Parade was the largest outdoor art exhibition ever staged in the UK, with 258 life sized baby elephant sculptures, set in locations all over London’s city centre. They were thought up and created for the leading wild elephant charity called ‘Elephant Family’ www.elephantfamily.org The interesting thing is that each elephant is a unique piece of art, hand painted by renowned artists and designers. The Parade ran for around two months; from May to July 2010. The elephants were placed in streets, parks and squares right across Central London at some of London’s leading landmarks.


    Above: elephants painted by Alexander Millar (left) and Jeff Rowland (right)

    With an estimated audience of 25 million (you cannot count every person in London who has viewed them can you?!), the campaign aimed to raise over £1 million for the endangered Asian elephant. It was a fresh and unique fundraising and awareness campaign that everyone could enjoy. Elephant Parade’s mission is to become the world’s largest financial support organisation for elephants, while attempting to save the Asian elephant from extinction in the wild.


    Above: elephants painted by Paul Kenton (left) and Louise Dear (right)

    Some of the UK’s finest artists and designers were sponsoring and painting an elephant including the previously blogged about: Alexander Millar, Jack Vettriano, Jeff Rowland John Wilson, Louise Dear, Paul Kenton & Peter Smith!…Many of these are artists licensed exclusively to Washington Green fine art publishers, so big thank you to them for allowing them to help out!

    After going on display in various locations all over London, a select number of elephants were then auctioned off by Sotheby’s, whilst the remainder were auctioned online.

    thank you

    Vicki

    Useful Links
    Elephant Parade Main site: www.elephantparadelondon.org
    Elephant Family Charity Main Site: www.elephantfamily.org
    Donate to Elephant Family: www.justgiving.com/elephantfamily/donate

  • John Wilson – Naive UK artist? We think he paints extraordinarily clever art!

    John Wilson is best known for his unique take on art; painting childlike pictures of people, set in places such as art galleries or on a street full of shops & astoundingly in the background he often paints realistic miniatures of old art masters.

    It would be easy to dismiss his paintings at first glance as just ‘childish’ or ‘so easy anyone could do them’ but you must scrutinize them to appreciate the true genius behind them.


    ‘The Lowry’ limited edition print by John Wilson

    Using bright colours which accentuate the naivety of parts of his art is his trademark & preferring slightly more subdued colours in many of his backgrounds. I find it amazing how he blends the aforementioned ‘art masterpieces’ and integrates them into his backgrounds, which often makes people do a double-take & demands several views to appreciate – it’s so subtle that in some instances you totally overlook they are even there!


    ‘A Day In Provence’ limited edition print by John Wilson

    John Wilson also makes 3D wall sculptures, which look brilliant because, firstly they are so boldly shaped & because the finished product often contains optical illusions within them – with the figures & objects moving as you view the piece from different angles.

    In the 3D piece ‘Mind Games’ it’s as though you are looking down several corridors in an art gallery and the characters appear to move before your eyes!. It is ‘mind’ boggling how he is able to achieve this unique finish.


    ‘Mind Games’ limited edition wall sculpture by John Wilson
    (seen from 2 angles)

    John also released two sculptures featuring the child-like figures within his paintings. Named ‘Boisterous Boys’ and ‘Gorgeous Girls,’ they are brightly coloured & vivid recreations, as though they have stepped off the canvas! I find it exciting to see his characters brought to life in sculpture, they immediately make you smile and think of your own childhood or perhaps your first painting lesson?


    ‘Boisterous Boy’ limited edition sculpture by John Wilson

    The artist also paints in a yet another very different style. Using more ‘reserved’ colouring, he paints towns & streets with houses & concrete pavements but normally with beautiful blue or yellow skies & a splash of colour on some of the houses! They are much more non-descript in comparison to his other naive art but wonderful in their own right – ‘Underneath The Arches’ & ‘Timeless Town’ are 2 such pieces that spring to mind.


    ‘The Corner Shop’ limited edition print by John Wilson

    It is interesting to juxtapose the artist’s two very distinct & almost opposing styles & the two mediums: paintings & sculptures; perhaps as a result, this is why he has such a large fan base. I believe his second style (see ‘The Corner Shop’ above) shares certain similarities with Paul Horton’s artwork, because they paint similar people & houses in similar styles in similar colours but both amazingly uplifting images as well.

    Thank you

    Vicki

    Links
    3D Sculptures
    Naive Art Movement
    Discussion on naive art

  • Merry Christmas Art Fans!!!

    Today I have created a Christmassy Blog to get us all in the mood for Christmas!!!

    Perhaps we will have a white Christmas this year! People are supposedly spending more money compared to last Christmas, so the news reporters are saying the recession is ending! Whether this is true or not we shall have to wait and see.

    So, many artists have created festive art, old and new, and here are a few of my favourites:


    Christmas Contemplation by Steven Binks

    Steven Binks is best known for his pictures of rusty farming machinery such as tractors. As a boy, he lived on a farm with his parents in Suffolk and this is why he likes to paint images of tractors. The above picture is much different to the majority of his art, as he rarely paints people as the focal point of his picture. This lady seems to have got her white Christmas after all!


    When I Saw Through His Disguise by Alexander Millar

    Alexander Millar Paints Gadgies; That is to say, old people. However, they always seem to be having fun in his pictures, on their way to or from an interesting event. The aptly named title mentioned above refers to his santa hood coming off which makes you realise its the same old gadgie that Millar always paints dressed as Santa Claus. His real hat gives his “disguise” away!


    Man Of Snow by Paul Horton

    Paul Hortons snowman range (he has done more than one) have proved very popular with his fans, selling out very quickly. His other snowman pictures features the snowman much smaller in the pictures, so I chose to show you this one so you can see why the fans love him so. Horton’s snowman reminds me of the innocence of youth at Christmas time:)


    Dont You Just Love This Time Of Year by John Wilson

    John Wison is well known by his fans for his child-like drawn characters in the foreground, yet adult backgrounds with miniature copies of famous art works by artists such as Van Gogh on the walls of his chosen background. It is a very clever style, at first glance the picture could be dismissed as childish and naiive. However, look closer and you see those characters are in our world!!


    Is That It? by Peter Smith

    Peter Smith paints pictures of lovable creatures which he has named “Impossimals”. This one in particular is a little disappointed in the size of his Christmas present! Smith’s art is simple yet endearing, and this one is no different. Fans of Peter Smith should be aware that he is currently making some new pieces, and has told us on his blog that one of his new Impossimals will have teeth and claws!! So this will be something new and exciting to look foward to!!


    Winter In The City by Henderson Cisz

    I just had to add this one as we have had the snow and ice already and so I thought this picture was apt! Cisz is well known for his cityscapes and his ability to catch the hustle and bustle of a city on his pictures. This picture looks as it is in London at the moment, icy roads and people last minute shopping for their christmas gifts.

    Thank You for reading everyone
    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all

    Vicki