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ArtSlant Profile Artist Artlover Art professional	John Norman Stewart
	John Norman Stewart, Mechanica, 1993, watercolor on paper, 8.5 x 11.5 © (c) 1993-2009 by John N. Stewart. All Rights Reserved John Norman Stewart, Pick A President, 1984, sculptured wood, metal, and paint, 127cm h x 42cm w © (c) 2004, by John N. Stewart. All Rights Reserved. John Norman Stewart, Old Man, 1962, Pencil on paper, 9x12 inches © (c) 1962-2009, by John N. Stewart. All Rights Reserved. John Norman Stewart, Reclining Nude, 2006, charcoal on paper, 11 x 40.25 inches © (c) 2009, by John N. Stewart. All Rights Reserved John Norman Stewart, Metal, Wood and Sand, 1996, metals, hardwoods and sand, 32 x 41.5 x 4 inches © (c) 2009, by John N. Stewart. All Rights Reserved John Norman Stewart, Cross Blocks, 2009, Mixed, print blocks, woods, steel, paint, 16 x 25 x 1.5 inches © (c) 2009, by John N. Stewart. All Rights Reserved	< \|\| >

> QUICK FACTS

BIRTHPLACE:

San Bernardino, California

BIRTH YEAR:

1940

LIVES IN:

Cottonwood, California

WORKS IN:

Cottonwood, California

PHONE:

530-347-1429

WEBSITE:

http://www.jstewart.com

REPRESENTING GALLERIES:

The Red Bluff Art Gallery

TAGS:

sculpture, figurative, abstract, drawing, photography, painting, modern, landscape, realism, mixed-media, adrawingperday

> STATEMENT

CV/Bio

John was born in San Bernardino, California in 1940. His family moved to Glendale, California when he was 1 year old. He spent his teens growing up in an old duplex which housed living quarters on one side and a art and ceramic studio on the other. He was exposed to many forms of art here since artists from all over the world taught classes here. He learned to throw pottery on the wheel, paint china, create ceramic tile murals, and welded sculpture along with more traditional drawing and painting techniques. Because his father (a frustrated sculptor ) built ceramic kilns and potters wheels John was able to meet many artists including sculptor Peter Voulkos, Roger Derricarer, Hilda Gentry and many others. He took the Famous Artist's correspondence course in his teens but lost interest after seven or eight lessons. He was awarded a scholarship to Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles in the late fifties and early sixties and later attended Art Center for a brief period of time. He had begun painting murals and art projects for various restaurants, hospitals etc. while still in High School. Murals for the Halliburton building, Glendale YMCA, Normandy Casino, and Canter's restaurant, and the Thunderbird Hotel (Las Vegas), followed. He also did paintings for Ricky's Valley Inn, the first IHOP restaurants (heraldic tiles), and a dozen or so other restaurant projects. One art project that stands out was a mural project for the Joseph Bean estate in La Canada, California. It began as a ceramic tile mural in the entry way and a year later had escalated to painted murals throughout the house. John has done several projects for Walt Disney including art for the new Fantasyland in 1980 - Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and the Snow White Ride. He has done several of the Haunted Mansion Paintings for Disneyland, Anaheim and Euro- Disneyland. In 1984 he painted two large portraits of the dowager emperor and empress for the China Pavilion at Epcot Center. In 1994 and 1995 he collaborated with artist Ron Gress in the design and painting of several murals for the Hilton Hotel in Reno, Nevada. Subjects were the Grand Canyon, the Reno air and balloon races, and a 190 foot nature and wildlife mural. John had his first art show on La Cienega at the age of 21 and since then has participated in scores of others. He had a special exhibition at Lakeland College in Ohio in 1978. Other recent participation include the Space Gallery, the Morseburg Gallery, and The Craig Fine Arts Gallery in Tuscon, Arizona. The majority of his drawings and paintings are in the William Smith collection. His work has been shown in many states and in several European countries. There have been a few limited edition prints, one for Unicorn, two for the "Battlefield Earth" series along with the calendar. He is a member of the National Watercolour Society, The California Art Club and the Motion Picture Scenic and Title Artists. John is currently listed in Who's Who of the Entertainment Industry, Who's Who in California, 5000 Personalities of the World and Who's Who in America (special supplement). For 25 years John did various kinds of art for most of the Hollywood film studios including Portraits, Illustrations and replicas of famous paintings. He has done portraits of Bette Davis (from life), James Brolin, Brian Keith, Valerie Perine, Norman Lloyd and many others for various film projects. His work can be seen in "The Addam's Family", "Bodyguard", "Free Willy" and in three Michael Jackson's videos. John resides in Cottonwood, California. For fun he paints out of doors, constructs sculptures, writes music, and dabbles in photography.

Studied: Jane Peterson; Glendale, CA; 1952-1953. Famous Artist's Schools; Westport,CN; 1956-1958. Chouinard Art Institute; Los Angeles, CA; 1958-1962. Robert Irwin; Bob Winquist; Los Angeles, CA; 1958-1959 Art Center School of Design; Los Angeles, CA; 1966.

Books: 2008, John N. Stewart A Sketchbook, Artist, 70 pages 1977, Gerald F. Bromer Landscapes 1974, Dell Ryan Lynch Bright Orbits, Mojave Books, 98 pages (color)

Museums: Yellowstone Museum, Yellowstone Park, Wyoming

Memberships: National Watercolor Society, 1976-2008, Signature Member. Los Angeles Art Association, 1985-1986 Scenic and Title Artists, 1986-1988, Vice President California Art Club, 1993-2007, Artist Member North Valley Art League, 2007

Magazine and Newspaper References: 1957, Glendale News Press, YMCA Mural 1985, Los Angeles Times, Painting at Warner Bros
Artist Statement: A lot of people ask why I paint in such diverse styles - I've been told that "you will never succeed in art unless you do one thing well." To me, that statement spells death to the creative process. I have to stretch out and try everything. I have experimented with varied types of media (i.e. welded metals, collage oil watercolor, pastel, etching etc.). I just enjoy whatever I am working with. I once had tea with artist Hans Burkhardt and his wife at his home in the Hollywood Hills. At 80 plus years old he had more enthusiasm and energy than most 5 year olds. In his studio he showed me some new paintings that he was working on, still trying out new techniques that he had discovered recently. As artists I think that we have to keep that same kind of enthusiasm going. When I see the diversity of God's creation it is hard to imagine any limitation. I sincerely believe that anything worthwhile that I have been able to produce has been because of my relationship with Him and allowing Him to work through me. I also believe that we all have the ability to tap into His unlimited resources. It's magical and it is a great cure for the depression which seems to afflict many creative persons. Since 1980 I have been fooling around a lot with computers, programming mainly in Basic, QBasic in areas of on-screen graphics. I find computers to be tremendously seductive and have spent thousands of hours working on them. I've only discovered the top two inches of a thousand-mile deep ocean of possibilities. These are exciting times we're living in! I've always had a love affair with music, especially jazz, classical, spiritual, and at one time had a jazz trio that played around Southern California in the early Sixties. I have composed a lot of music, have published five cd's, and still perform occasionally.