Unforgettable , an autobiography of Tucson artist John Watt:
His father, artist, actor, and author, Malcolm Sparky Watt, had an enormous influence on him and on his decision to pursue art as a career. It was his father’s passing in 2002 that inspired him to start painting.
Beginning when he was very young, He wanted to be an artist, to paint with his dad, go on his father’s trips to the Indian reservations, and experience The West as his father did. When he was only four or five years old, he would frequently boast that when he grew up, he was going to be a great artist, like his dad!
His father did his best to make that happen and took him on many trips. In 1965 his father took him on an extensive trip to the Indian Country, including Canyon De Chelly, Monument Valley, and the ruins at Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Keet Seel, Montezumas Castle and Tonto. It had a profound impact on him, but it would be another forty years before he would pick up his father’s brushes to paint about it.
After graduating from high school in Tucson, he decided to postpone college and become a certified welder. He thought he could experience true wilderness and adventure working on a new pipeline, but has yet to make it to Alaska. Along the way though, he’s had a lot of adventure on a very long and circuitous route!
One eight year stop on that route was New Orleans,Louisiana, where for almost five years he apprenticed with kinetic sculptor Lin Emery. That afforded him an amazing opportunity to meet and be influenced by some of the greats of contemporary art, including Tony Smith, Isamu Naguchi, Henri Moore, Kenneth Snelson, Arthur Silverman, George Rickey and Arnaldo Pomodoro. Unfortunately, it didnt afford much else, so he decided to go into the life insurance business to eventually afford his own studio.
Beginning in New Orleans the insurance business took him to Little Rock, AR, New York, Washington D.C., Europe, the Caribbean, and twelve years later, back to his home town of Tucson, AZ. That’s when he decided to give his passion the attention it deserved. Given his background and training he began part time, designing and producing a unique line of jewelry he called “Shards ”. Those early expressions evolved and within four years, he was working full time in his own studio designing and producing an ongoing series of steel sculptures titled “Glyphs ”.
Between Shards and Glyphs, he earned his degree in advertising art and graphic design. Narrowly escaping injury while loading one of his large steel sculptures, he decided it would be far safer to learn the fine art of oil painting. It had been his father’s primary medium so he went to him for advice on how to begin. His father had always been very thoughtful and after a long pause responded by telling him to... just..get a brush....put it in some... paint...and do like this (brushing)...its magic! Puzzled and disappointed, he went away to think about the advice he’d been given. Two years later, his father was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, and the advice he gave began to make sense.
Fine art painting is creating an illusion, not just of three dimensions on a two dimensional surface, but of an emotional experience that will resonate with the audience.
Following his father’s passing in 2002, He found among his father’s estate, six prepared canvases he had done rudimentary drawings on, but never painted.
Continuing to sort through the estate, they found a binder of slides that had miraculously survived their house fire. Among the slides were the models for the unfinished canvases.
With his mother’s encouragement, he decided he would learn how to paint so that he could continue his father’s legacy.
In addition to the six prepared canvases, he has already completed more than sixty others of the Indian Country in the 1950s and 60s as well as how it exists today. His work continues, inspired by the people and landscapes of the west from the southern border of Mexico to the northern border of Canada.
Much like performing good magic, these paintings are his performance of magic , passed on from Father to son.
2020 John Watt © [email protected]
Artist Statement
John Watt classifies his painting as impressionistic realism. He combines abstraction and representation to invite the viewer in to his vision.
Through his art, Watt strives to interpret the beauty of Gods creation with color, from life, to elevate the human spirit and make the ordinary extraordinary. A multi-tiered, evocative narrative in much of Johns work is a result and reflection of his primary focus on personal and spiritual growth.
Raised by a Marine, he is a dedicated and disciplined worker. He tries not to take himself too seriously; but strives for authenticity and allegory, seasoned with a touch of humor. People, things and events he depicts, in his painting and sculpture, frequently have symbolic meaning.
Watt feels fortunate to have been blessed with numerous teachers and mentors throughout his life. Most notable; his parents, artist Malcolm and Annalyn Watt, saddler R. Lloyd Davis, printmaker Carmine DeVivi, and kinetic sculptor Lin Emery.
Watts primary teacher and mentor for oil painting, though, is his friend R.S. Riddick. Ron graciously and selflessly continues to inspire, encourage and coach him on the finer points of color, value, edges, and the business of representational painting.
Watts studio is where he now resides in Tucson, Arizona. Working from thin to thicker paint application, he layers his surface to achieve the illusion of depth, luminosity and texture. Watt employs only time tested archival methods and materials in the creation of his work and each piece is meticulously framed to enhance its beauty.
Traveling throughout the world, John has been privileged to learn from the masters in countless museums, particularly in Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Dallas, Memphis, Washington D.C. and Amsterdam. Studying firsthand some of the worlds finest art, while forging friendships with some of the country’s finest living artists, John continues to position himself to make a significant mark on the landscape of contemporary western art.
2020 © John Watt
Resume'
John Watt, born 1954, Tucson, AZ [email protected]
Education
Scottsdale Artist School, Studio of Cowboy Artist of America R.S. Riddick, The Art Center College of Design, Tucson, AZ Studio of kinetic sculptor Lin Emery, New Orleans, LA American Minimalist sculptor Tony Smith, New Orleans Museum of Art Apprentice to saddlemaker R. Lloyd Davis, Tucson, AZ Studio of printmaker Carmine DeVivi, Corrales, NM Studio of Malcolm Watt, American artist
Numerous Public and Private Collections
Selected Exhibitions
Settlers West Gallery, Tucson, AZ, Max Gallery, Tucson, AZ, November Empire Ranch 100, Tucson AZ, Mountain Oyster Club, Tucson, AZ, Empire Ranch Fall Round-up, Sonoita, AZ St. Philips Gallery, Tucson, AZ Galeria Mistica, Tucson, AZ, Desert Legacy Gallery, Tucson, AZ, Tohono Chul Park, Tucson, AZ Tucson Botanical Garden,Tucson, AZ Molly Ramolla Gallery, Tubac, AZ Sculptured Arts Gallery, Sedona, AZ,
Publications
Magic of the Land, Tucson Weekly City Week Artist puts the Source in Resourceful, Arizona Daily Star Learning from Canvassing Life Arizona Daily Star Exhibit Today , Arizona Daily Star Parks art young at heart , Arizona Daily Star, Scenery Amid Greenery , Tucson Citizen Starting from Scrap , Arizona Daily Star
Broadcasts
Arizona Illustrated , PBS on KUAT, March 15, 2006 Arizona Illustrated , PBS on KUAT, June 1, 2005 Arizona Illustrated , PBS on KUAT, June 12, 2001 Arizona Illustrated , PBS on KUAT, January 10, 2000
Affiliations
Oil Painters of America Friends of Western Art Tucson Plein Air Painters Society
