John David Wissler’s upcoming show and workshop

I was looking again recently at John David Wissler’s landscapes and it never ceases to amaze me how good these paintings are. Such a luscious and visceral use of paint to convey the feeling of light and space as well as mood and sense of place. I thought I’d share a few of his recent paintings here in a slide show. I’m planning for a new interview with John David Wissler that should coincide with his solo exhibition at Lancaster Galleries in Lancaster, PA starting August 5 – September 18. 2021, primarily of his studio works. He plans for some talks about his work that should become available online at some point during that time. He is also putting on a special workshop at the Mt Gretna School of Art starting this fall that you can read more about here.

“My passion has always been the landscape. I feel a sense of history when painting… the painters I admire and study, Corot, Constable, Turner, Inness, Bonard, Resika…the history of the land itself and my own familiar connection to it. Painting comes through the study of nature…transformed, not merely copied. Seeing the immediacy of the place…what strikes me first. The way trees react to fields, colour to colour, shape to shape…pushing and pulling the plastic nature of the picture plane, creating believable space.

I find the challenge of using what I have observed, taking it to my studio, and creating a new painting invigorating. Drawing upon the memory of place and experience…using the language I have learned from nature, trying to keep the painting fresh…space, clarity, surprise…that’s painting!”