John Wilson first recalls being interested in art when he was 10 years old. It was at this point that he entered an Easter card competition at school and when he won first place, he was inspired to continue drawing. Wilson drew airplanes, automobiles, and other things that interested him and it was obvious that he had natural talent. To encourage his artistic endeavors, he was given a set of oil paints and an easel when he was 12 years old. This “opened up a whole new world of color and texture, as well as filling the house with the wonderful scent of linseed and turpentine,” Wilson explains, and it spurred him to take painting classes at the Harrogate School of Art in Yorkshire. He also studied figure painting and Pop art, expanding his artistic horizons even further. His paintings were so remarkable that some where exhibited in the Harrogate Art Gallery.

Wilson, who was soon married with three daughters, decided that to raise his family, he would have to put painting on the back burner and he ran his own small business for 25 years. While he continued to paint in his spare time, it was simply a hobby for him. Finally in the 1990s Wilson returned to his passion and began painting more seriously. It was not long before he was displaying his artwork in local galleries; his original paintings and limited edition fine art prints are now highly collectable.

While his earlier paintings were inspired by Pop art, Wilson explains that he is now inspired by the simplicity of children’s drawings. His daughters’ artwork, with their simple shapes and bold, bright colors, “gave me the idea of mixing children’s art, with no inhibitions, together with the carefully planned paintings of the adult artist.” This combination results in Wilson’s vibrant, exciting, and skillful paintings, which are now collected around the world.