John Watling N.D.D.A.T.C.

John Watling was born in Manchester, England in 1943. He is a graduate of Leeds College of Art. In 1965 John was founder member of Leeds 'Sweet Street Group' - bringing art into industry.

He exhibited in the Leeds City Art Gallery (one man show) and The Austin Hayes Gallery in York in 1967 and 1968. After teaching art for two years he left Leeds and moved to Newcastle upon Tyne where he became a freelance illustrator for the Sunday Sun Newspaper.

From 1971 he found himself involved with the Entertainment Industry on the management side. This carried him over to Australia where he also exhibited paintings in Sydney between 1972 and 1974. He returned to England and Newcastle upon Tyne where he worked in promoting and organising Arts Festivals and exhibiting locally. In 1984 he returned to teaching art.

In 1989 he went on holiday to the West coast of Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. This began a love affair resulting with a period of painting which still continues to this day. He exhibits frequently in Edinburgh and since 2000 in London's West End.

John Watling's paintings are landscapes of the West of Scotland and Ireland. The Scottish paintings are mainly of the island of Iona where he finds inspiration for the almost Celtic strata of the rocks against the white sands and the oddly shaped islands off the coast. The paintings have a surreal look about them, which he says reflects his feelings about the island.

His paintings of the West Coast of Ireland are mostly of the Aran Islands off the coast of Galway which to him have a timeless feel about them. His main interest is in the dry stonewalls which cover the islands like an enormous maze.

His paintings are in oil and watercolour. He paints mainly in his studio from sketches and photographs rather than in 'situ'. This is because of the frequent light changes which can alter by the minute in the areas where he draws inspiration from.

He is a prolific painter and has a large number of admirers and investors throughout the British Isles. He has paintings which are in collections in Britain, Ireland, USA, Europe, Australia and Canada.

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Recent Solo Exhibitions:
Browns Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne	1989
Grey's Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne	1990
Hanover Fine Arts, Edinburgh	1993
The Torrance Gallery, Edinburgh	1998 & 2000
Group Exhibitions:
Hanover Fine Arts, Edinburgh 1990,91,92,93,94,95,96
University of Northumbria Gallery 1993,94,95
The Torrance Gallery, Edinburgh 1993,94,95,96,97,98
Hatton Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1994
W.H. Patterson Fine Arts Led, London 2002,01
The Torrance Gallery, Edinburgh 2000
Edinburgh Festival Exhibition, Hanover Fine Arts 2001