John Clark

I started painting in pastel in 1985, as a natural progression from drawing, which I had been doing for as long as I can remember. Two years later, I moved to the Cayman Islands, where I lived with my family for fourteen years. The colors of the Caribbean stimulated my artistic senses and invited me to capture the turquoise sea and bright pink bougainvillea on paper and canvas. The Cayman Islands art community welcomed me, private collectors and institutions bought my work, and I took part in many visual arts exhibitions and group shows, winning several awards. The Cayman Islands are a British dependent territory, and my standing in the art community gave me the opportunity and the honor of meeting members of the royal family.

I began using acrylics towards the end of my time in the Cayman Islands, and now that I live in England, I paint almost exclusively in this medium. Acrylics combine strength of color with technical simplicity, and thanks to their durability, I know that when I ship originals around the world, they arrive in perfect condition.

One of the advantages of living in Europe is being able to travel to countries such as Italy and France. I feel lucky to have been able to paint a few pastoral scenes of Tuscany and Provence between my more typically tropical works for galleries in the Caribbean and collectors in the United States.

In 2013, I began painting scenes of Kauai, to be exhibited and sold through the Palms Gallery. It was a great privilege for me to be selected as the gallery's first international artist, and there can be no better inspiration for an artist than to have as a subject the most naturally beautiful landscapes on the planet, and a gallery in the middle of it all where the work can be exhibited and enjoyed. Today, my days begin with a blank canvas in front of me and images of stunning waterfalls, rugged mountains, pristine beaches and swaying palm trees, just waiting to be painted.