John Waterhouse

Hugely atmospheric landscapes typically bathed in swirling autumnal mists, graphically filmed in epic sienna and sepia tints, populated by trees and expanses of natural waterway, lengthy shadows and reflective glory interspersing the canvas. Whilst we could be describing a number of contemporary landscape artist’s finest, signatory hours to those of you already familiar with the celebrated exponent of the genre, John Waterhouse, you probably knew we were describing his habitual compositions by the end of the first comma. To those of you not yet aware of his hugely popular work, now is very much the time to acquaint yourself.

From the get-go young master Waterhouse had shown a keen interest in the subject of art, and had been fully supported by his parents, especially his mother who herself had dabbled a little as a hobby. Being born and bred in rural Staffordshire afforded Waterhouse an immediate awareness and appreciation of the countryside and its inherent beauty, which townies have never quite grasped. Still situated in the heart of our green and pleasant land, Waterhouse enthuses about the constant illustrative reference points he has, quite literally on his doorstep.

With the year being 1983 and at the age of just 16, Waterhouse turned his back on secondary school having bagged what he considered the most important accolade; that being a grade A in O-Level art (pre-GCSE marking systems to those of a not so vintage) and the title of overall best art pupil in his school year. However art college didn’t beckon for Waterhouse as instead he decided to make his way in the world of warehousing, gaining storekeeper’s position locally. Having said that he did manage to keep his hand in with his painting in his spare time. In 1994, and so as to give himself a greater chance and freedom to develop his creative skillset, Waterhouse bode farewell to full-time employment and ushered in a new part-time dawn (and role), with a clear and medium term view of making a go of his art professional, sometime in the foreseeable.

Then, six years down the line, in 2000 Waterhouse threw in the metaphoric towel with his part-time role too, as he alternatively accepted a two-day-a-week tutoring position in a local young offenders prison, whereby he taught them the rudiments of painting. Eventually he halved this working arrangement in terms of hours worked, as all the time interest and subsequent demand for his own, personal art originals gathered momentum. That’s not to say Waterhouse didn’t thoroughly enjoy working with these youngsters in the capacity he did, as on the contrary he found his remit to be incredibly rewarding as he did his best to encourage his charges during this period of his professional life. Despite experiencing a few initial reservations about giving up his proper jobs as such, Waterhouse was under no illusions as how he wanted his career to pan out from this point onwards, and finally found the confidence and self-assurance to make the leap of faith after accepting a raft of commissions from seasoned art collectors fascinated by his style and presentation and acknowledging his emerging talent.

Before he knew it, and once having dedicated himself to painting on a full-time basis, Waterhouse was showcasing his works in one of the UK’s leading fine art publishers’ partnership galleries and gaining widespread interest and plaudits. This in turn afforded Waterhouse an even greater flow of commissions and shortly afterwards his (now) hallmark compositions came to the attention of Washington Green’s star-maker-in-chief, Glyn Washington. Who was only too happy to sign Waterhouse up and agree to represent him on a more commercial footing henceforth. Of course, being self-taught as it were, Waterhouse has spent a considerable amount of hours in the studio learning and practicing his particular genre of art, in spite of showing a natural flair for landscape creations from the outset and is a great advocate of practice ultimately making perfect.

When pressed on his inspirations and motivations to reach for the paints in the first instance, Waterhouse quickly reminds us the fortunate environmental surroundings which he enjoyed during his formative years; from walking the fields and wooded vistas close to where he grew up and where he currently resides, to simply people-watching as folk go about their lives. Whenever Waterhouse has a flash of inspiration, be it from whatever source, he quickly commits the visual idea to follow to paper then and there, to recall during studio time.

On the subject of people, Waterhouse does alternatively paint the likeness of figures on occasion and as the creative mood takes him, and cites the never ending inspiration for his latest muses coming from merely sitting on a park bench for a while, observing the world go by and subsequently furnishing his head with countless illustrative concepts to be realised at a later date. Taking up this thread, Waterhouse himself suggests; “The store of ideas is endless. As with landscape painting, it is just a matter of looking, thinking and using an imaginary form in my head.” Before adding as a footnote; “The image then needs to be etched into my mind, as unlike a landscape, the subject matter may not stay still for very long, leaving me to reconstruct my ideas using models”.

Waterhouse’s approach to his landscapes is different, as a deal of the core information is present and correct and, literally, serving as evergreen as opposed to transient snapshots of a life being lived. Having said that, Waterhouse insists that more often than not something extra still needs to be added, or changed slightly. Be it a cloud formation, a distant figure, or perhaps the way the light is falling. The artist concurs that with landscapes it’s all about finding the balance and composition of a painting that’s already been originated by Mother Nature before your eyes, and therefore as a painter your version of contemporary pictorial events needs to do it justice. There’s no doubting that Waterhouse is in love with the English countryside that he illustratively fawns over with a pleasing regularity, and stresses that in his opinion even fields and trees depict their own character and history in the same way a person would.