I visited with John and Lynne at their gallery and home, Joy to the Wind, recently. Once up in their gallery space, it was clear that John was immersed in a new medium and its application to canvas. And I immediately felt quite chill.

I don’t know about you, but this winter my “soundtrack” mirrors the intensity of the lead violin in Vivaldi’s “Winter.” Thoughts and emotions are intense - the mind races. But in John’s studio, the vibe is relaxed, and it is apparent this is a fertile time of creativity.

John has moved from oil to acrylic paints and in addition to brushes, he’s been applying them with squeegees, drywall tools he’s picked up at large sales on Boothbay Common, such as the one held for decades by Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club’s former summer event among others held there.

As we talked, John emphasized the importance of color interactions and the use of acrylic mediums to achieve transparency. His recent work includes a series of black and copper-colored paintings, where he scratches through wet paint to reveal layers. The cross shows up in some of this new work. One such painting contains a large cross in the center of various sized color and textured squares that reminded me of a quilt or game board. The cross is center stage and it calls for, no, demands your attention.

The cross is black - and this is a new color for him – he exposes the copper beneath through random etching – or is it random? Not hardly. It’s through the conversation that develops between painting and artist that leads to the next color choice or the next shape, the next tool. And, in the case of this painting, and that cross … the vignettes revealed through etching are compelling. In the horizontal of the cross I saw very old trees that I believed were in one of our southern states ... there could have been a mausoleum or ancient structure beyond the trees that would not have surprised. The etched lines within the vertical piece of the cross are bolder; what are they hiding? I can tell you what I saw – a jail cell. I know, I know ... but I sensed, and quite strongly, that the cell was from an ancient time – perhaps in the lower level of that mausoleum I imagined might be beyond the trees. The painting is fascinating.

All of that scratching, abrading into the surface he does - before layering on other colors - to create his patterns is certainly effective. And, like he said, one color shape and design leads to another. “I’m dealing with color over color, dealing with the transparency of one color over another to create a third color.”

Another painting we looked at that caught my imagination was black with shades of gray and with white popping up unexpectedly. This is one of his new works with a border. The border really makes this dark, moody piece pop – and for those who are not necessarily “into” exploring the darkness (and this may be comforting for some out there) the border acts as a barrier between the painting and the “real” world.

There are more colorful works in his new series, which could actually be two or three, rather than one. This is one fruitful winter for John.

While he is conversing with his new paintings there is music in the background. Classical and world music are top choices with some movie soundtracks in the mix. In particular, Hans Zimmer musical scores.

“His (Zimmer) heroic type of music makes me want to do something more grand or powerful; more meaningful, perhaps even, you know, something bold.”

Cue a “Dune” soundtrack ...

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