John is an artist from Coagh, County Tyrone, he went on to study Art & Cinema at Queen's Belfast and at the UU in Utrecht, Netherlands. Having been brought up in the country surrounded by quiet fields, dairy farms and abandoned buildings he recalls "I have vivid memories of military service men landing in helicopters in those fields, routine checks on those quiet roads and being chased by neighbourly farmers for trespassing...but all that is confused amongst the freedom and liberty I felt exploring nature, playing with my friends, using our imagination and discovering fantasy and unknown worlds; everything was about escapism." "I've always been fascinated by the abstract form - a window into a world not seen but yet it is visible. It was through the simple act of expression, giving myself permission - without judgement - that I developed an approach and understanding of painting and over time it allowed me to understand the world around me." John's expression has developed a depth and style of its own accord in recent years. Working with oil paint comes with patience and an understanding for the medium, as it has its own nature especially when working when wet. It's an organic process; full of mystery and reveal. His abstract works convey an intense array of motions that perhaps on a rational level we cannot define them. Yet, through creativity and personal expression, these motions take shape in a visceral form. With intensity and lustre they convey - even just in a stagnant image - what these motions might look like when given life; given language. From those depths the 'Art of Pharos' was born. It's an attempt to capture through movement of expression the individual language and light within ourselves that stands against the turbulence of life.