photo credit - molly haley
“I approach my life and work as a practice continuum. The creation of architecture and art for homeowners, businesses, communities, and institutions drives my interests and areas of focus. Some days I’m designing spaces and sites for clients and this involves understanding building codes as well as the practical and aspirational ways my clients want to live each day. Some days I’m painting and doing studies that lead to artworks which I hope will further enliven the spaces my clients inhabit and bring them moments of transcendence and joy. These two areas of focus inform the books I read, the places I go, and the way I observe the world. My wife, Caroline, is an art teacher and an artist as well. We collaborate, we critique each others work and we make space for the conversation of design and art in the every day.”
Education
Rhode Island School of Design - Bachelor of Fine Arts 1989, Bachelor of Architecture 1990, European Honors Program 1988 - 1989
Biography
John was born and raised in Waltham, Massachusetts and attended high school at Buckingham Brown & Nichols in Cambridge. He earned his degrees in fine arts and architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design and taught architectural design studios at the Boston Architectural College in the 1990’s.
John’s interest in making two-dimensional fine art stems from his love of drawing, having grown up in a household full of designers and artists where daily drawing, constructing and tinkering were encouraged. Eventually making his way to RISD, John was inspired to think outside the box at every level of design exploration and credits his first college drawing instructor, Victor Lara, with bringing his love of depicting form and surface fully into the open.
John works in art and architectural practice and continues to explore the relationship of the physical world to the two-dimensional canvas and built form in both areas of focus. Integrating design and art-making in his daily life is a critical part of his daily life practice along with meditation and Tai Chi.
