Sunshine Coast Hinterland Times

What a brilliant career!
Montville Art Gallery’s feature artist for the month of February is John Pointon.
Born in Sydney in 1936, John studied at the National Art School in Sydney.  Believing he could not earn a living from his art, John commenced a career in advertising.  Whilst finding his job satisfying and rewarding, painting remained his passion and consumed his weekends.
“In 1969, Jim Buckley a famous hotelier in Sydney persuaded me to abandon my job in advertising and become a full time artist.  He displayed my paintings in his Newcastle Hotel which was very popular with Sydney’s young business men and women during the sixties and seventies.  The paintings sold quickly, and my career as a full time professional artist was established.”  John told us recently.
“In 1971, I was invited to have a one man exhibition at Robert Wardrop Galleries in Sydney.  The exhibition sold out in ninety minutes creating a sensation and attracting favorable reviews in the Sydney press.  The following year my exhibition sold out in twenty minutes.  It wasn’t long before I was having sell-out exhibitions in galleries all around Australia..”  John added.
“Although he is best known for his delightful portrayals of Sydney’s inner city suburbs such as Paddington and Balmain with their terrace houses and worker’s cottages, John also enjoys painting rural scenes and seascapes. His clever use of colour light and texture add a special dimension to his paintings.” said gallery manager, Lisa Powell.
A selection of John’s paintings will be displayed in the gallery during the month of February.
The Montville Art Gallery is open from 10 to 5, seven days a week and is located at 138 Main Street, Montville, opposite the Village Green.