JOHN MCLEAN
John McLean is the premier artist of Richmond's botanical gardens. His original painting style is uniquely his own.
The multi-talented artist was born in 1944. Early in life he was infatuated with various artistic expressions. The understanding and cultivating support of his mother enabled him to concentrate solely on painting. In addition, he was extremely engrossed in music. After organizing a band, he gave many musical performances believing that all arts had something in common. Each influenced the other areas of creativity, causing synergy within his creative mind. For this reason, he was able to pursue both arts at the same time, although painting and music became more and more time consuming. For many years he was able to balance the demand of each pursuit, further feeding his creative interests.
After graduation, due to a demanding schedule he had to choose between his two passions. He decided upon a career in music and played bass in jazz performances on the stage of the United States Army for 12 years playing with various musicians of the time. Yet nothing could keep him from his primary passion of painting. In 1975 his professional music career ended with an injury to his left hand, his primary hand for playing bass, however he still thinks that his past activities with music have considerable effects on this paintings and his rhythmic brushstrokes.
With his strong interest in gardening, he quotes: "A garden is an artificial space which men change to feel like nature is in their possession. It might sound strange, but I regard artificiality as an action of a humans' long lost nature. This is because the nature around us was deprived of its substance ages ago. Accordingly, I want to convey the following things in my drawings: The green world we long for; the intense part of wild nature; The peaceful touch of light and the war world of life by using a garden, even though it is transformed and artificial. Indeed, I would like to convey my message which is that the world still has hope and a lot of beautiful things to others".
Using specially made tools and un-thinned oil paints, his depictions of beloved Virginia landmarks such as the Italian Garden at Maymont, Waterfall at Maymont, Cherry Blossoms on the Lake at Lewis Ginter and Azalea Path at Maymont are incredibly realistic and heavily textured. John McLean’s original paintings of Richmond are exclusively available at West End Gallery.
The multi-talented artist was born in 1944. Early in life he was infatuated with various artistic expressions. The understanding and cultivating support of his mother enabled him to concentrate solely on painting. In addition, he was extremely engrossed in music. After organizing a band he gave many performances believing that all arts had something in common. Each influenced the other areas of creativity, causing synergy within his creative mind. For this reason, he was able to
pursue both arts at the same time, although painting and music became more and more time consuming. For many years he was able to balance the demand of each pursuit, further feeding his creative interests.
After graduation, due to a demanding schedule he had to choose between his two passions. He decided upon a career in music and played bass in jazz performances on the stage of the United States Army for 12 years playing with various musicians of the time. Yet nothing could keep him from his primary passion of painting. In 1975 his professional music career ended with a injury to his left hand, his primary hand for playing bass, however he still thinks that his past activities with music have considerable effects on his paintings and his rhythmic brushstrokes.
With his strong interest in gardening, he quotes, “A garden is an artificial space which men change to feel that nature is in their possession. It might sound strange, but I regard artificiality as an action of a human’s searching for long lost nature. This is because the nature around us was deprived of its substance ages ago. Accordingly, I want to convey the following things in my drawing: The green world we long for, the intensive part of wild nature, the peaceful touch of light and the warm world of life by using a garden, even though it is transformed and artificial. Indeed, I would like to convey my message which is that the world still has hope and a lot of beautiful things to others”.
His works are valued and collected in the United States, Europe as well as displayed in fine art exhibits and galleries around the world.
In addition to McLean's oil paintings, we also offer limited edition giclees on paper and embellished canvas giclees from the John Mclean Studio. Come to West End Gallery to view John McLean's fine artwork or call us and we'll mail you his full giclee catalog.
Embellished Canvas Giclees are available in two sizes - Paper Giclees are available in three sizes.
|
