Born and raised in Merced, a small town in central California, John began his life in fairly austere conditions. Merced being an agricultural town, artistic opportunities were less than abundant. With his mother doing her best to support John and his two older brothers after Dad abandoned the family, times were a little tough.
Early on there were signs of an artistic bent, but at the time creating things was simply his favorite part of playtime. In the small school he attended he wrote limericks about his classmates, sometimes accompanied by characterized drawings. Working with clay was a favorite passtime. People, animals, and insects were usually the focus of those efforts, but still, it was just play for him. Taking a serious direction toward creating art didn’t even cross his mind. It wasn’t within the realm of his reality at that point.
Another activity that set his life’s direction was his cousin’s Erector Set. With the mechanical parts and pieces in that old metal box, John found he could create all kinds of fun toys, including some with moving parts. Figuring out how to fit things together using all those parts and pieces set his mind working in useful ways. And it was fun.
In his youth, John was what one might call a “free range child”. With his mother working every day, when school was out he was able to explore his little world on his own. Grandma had a small farm where he often ended up on summer days. There were cows, chickens, fruit trees, and Grandma’s home cooking, as well as Uncle Roy’s workshop. Wrenches, saws, files, a workbench, and a vice were in there. It didn’t take long for John to discover that, using all those tools, and having a seemingly endless wood supply, he could make his own toys. Financial conditions did not usually allow for the store bought kind, so much time was spent making those toys.
As an adult, John learned how to work as an automotive mechanic. Most of those years he specialized as an automatic transmission rebuilder. He enjoyed working with parts, gears, pulleys, shafts, and bearings, seeing these parts work together to form a functional final product.
While pursuing a degree at Northern Arizona University, art classes taken as part of the course requirements turned out to be some of the most useful of all the classes taken at the university. These included jewelry making, ceramics, and sculpture. Upon presentation to the class, the various creations he made were welcomed, sometimes with standing ovations, by teachers and fellow students alike. One of those creations, THE WINDCHIME FROM HELL, made from repurposed automatic transmission parts, won a best of show award at Flagstaff’s annual Recycled Art Exhibition in 2008. This was the kind of attention John needed to realize he needed to put more focus on his artistic efforts.
Most of John’s work since that time has been with metal sculptures, with most of those sculptures being associated with the kaleidoscope hidden inside. The idea of creating an aesthetically pleasing sculpture, with a hidden inner beauty, has given John a specialty within the broader field, with most of those kaleidoscopic creations having the added feature of being interactive. Almost all of John’s work has to “do” something besides just sit there for the visual pleasure for the viewer. As such, they are complex pieces, with cranks, gears, pulleys, bearings, bushings, shafts, and wheels, all created, finely machined, and assembled with the end point of moving the kaleidoscopic image inside. He works hard to make his creations not only beautiful, but durable as well. He states an important goal as, “I want my work to still be functioning, and pleasing people a hundred years from now.”
In 2015 John won Best of Show at The Recycled Art Exhibition with THE FOSSIL, a kaleidoscope made from old car parts, a well pulley, and a rusted car jack that had spent decades embedded in the bottom of the Verde River. Other awards received at the Recycled Art Exhibition were two for Elegance, one for Most Creative, and one for Simplicity.
Early on there were signs of an artistic bent, but at the time creating things was simply his favorite part of playtime. In the small school he attended he wrote limericks about his classmates, sometimes accompanied by characterized drawings. Working with clay was a favorite passtime. People, animals, and insects were usually the focus of those efforts, but still, it was just play for him. Taking a serious direction toward creating art didn’t even cross his mind. It wasn’t within the realm of his reality at that point.
Another activity that set his life’s direction was his cousin’s Erector Set. With the mechanical parts and pieces in that old metal box, John found he could create all kinds of fun toys, including some with moving parts. Figuring out how to fit things together using all those parts and pieces set his mind working in useful ways. And it was fun.
In his youth, John was what one might call a “free range child”. With his mother working every day, when school was out he was able to explore his little world on his own. Grandma had a small farm where he often ended up on summer days. There were cows, chickens, fruit trees, and Grandma’s home cooking, as well as Uncle Roy’s workshop. Wrenches, saws, files, a workbench, and a vice were in there. It didn’t take long for John to discover that, using all those tools, and having a seemingly endless wood supply, he could make his own toys. Financial conditions did not usually allow for the store bought kind, so much time was spent making those toys.
As an adult, John learned how to work as an automotive mechanic. Most of those years he specialized as an automatic transmission rebuilder. He enjoyed working with parts, gears, pulleys, shafts, and bearings, seeing these parts work together to form a functional final product.
While pursuing a degree at Northern Arizona University, art classes taken as part of the course requirements turned out to be some of the most useful of all the classes taken at the university. These included jewelry making, ceramics, and sculpture. Upon presentation to the class, the various creations he made were welcomed, sometimes with standing ovations, by teachers and fellow students alike. One of those creations, THE WINDCHIME FROM HELL, made from repurposed automatic transmission parts, won a best of show award at Flagstaff’s annual Recycled Art Exhibition in 2008. This was the kind of attention John needed to realize he needed to put more focus on his artistic efforts.
Most of John’s work since that time has been with metal sculptures, with most of those sculptures being associated with the kaleidoscope hidden inside. The idea of creating an aesthetically pleasing sculpture, with a hidden inner beauty, has given John a specialty within the broader field, with most of those kaleidoscopic creations having the added feature of being interactive. Almost all of John’s work has to “do” something besides just sit there for the visual pleasure for the viewer. As such, they are complex pieces, with cranks, gears, pulleys, bearings, bushings, shafts, and wheels, all created, finely machined, and assembled with the end point of moving the kaleidoscopic image inside. He works hard to make his creations not only beautiful, but durable as well. He states an important goal as, “I want my work to still be functioning, and pleasing people a hundred years from now.”
In 2015 John won Best of Show at The Recycled Art Exhibition with THE FOSSIL, a kaleidoscope made from old car parts, a well pulley, and a rusted car jack that had spent decades embedded in the bottom of the Verde River. Other awards received at the Recycled Art Exhibition were two for Elegance, one for Most Creative, and one for Simplicity.