In 2018 I was 50 years old and I was thrilled when one of the major public art galleries in Cornwall, Falmouth Art Gallery, celebrated my birthday with a major retrospective art exhibition and book looking back at my life and all the key paintings I had made. I think it became obvious to the more than 10,000 people who attended the exhibition that much of my work celebrated the natural world and I think it was a surprise for some people to discover I had been travelling, exploring biodiversity, ethnobotany and climate change issues for years.
In the video below Sir Tim Smit, KBE, the co-founder of the Eden Project neatly sums up how my work manages to celebrate the world, but also reminds us that it is at risk. This was filmed at the opening of my retrospective exhibition in 2018.
There are so many subjects I want to paint and journeys to share with schools around the world. The Last Chance to Paint team are busily working on plans, but we would love to hear your ideas as well. What would work well in your school and with the curriculum? Our first two chapters explore rainforests and the 3rd will be in Africa, but after that we can write the story together. Please do let us know in this forum what you think, as we would love for you to be part of the conversation and to find out your ideas.
Take care,
John.