Meet John Firestone | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with John Firestone and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi John, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
When I was in college there was a train of thought between the students and some of the faculty that you shouldn’t give yourself a backup plan for employment when it comes time to be a full-time artist. There was this romantic notion of struggling for your art and single-minded devotion to that point. After being in the workforce for a few years I wholly disagreed with this idea. I found that I had the freedom to work on exactly the ideas I wanted to work on, and not sellout to another person’s vision to pay any bill. I could also be a bit pickier when it came to commissions, I didn’t have to choose ones where a client had a specific idea for what they wanted, I could recommend more struggling artist friends for those, and only take the ones where the client gave me more freedom to do what I wanted for the space. I am in a position now to work on building what I want more work to be, and also help support peer artists by purchasing their work from time to time. And all the while I have the ability to travel, pay the bills, get wider life experiences, and establish a decent retirement future where I will be able to paint what I want even more.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve always felt that I have a duty to recognize various landscapes and create a personal ode to them based on my own filters and lenses. The artworks don’t always need to be from the most impressive landscapes, but they do need to be from a place where I had a chance to breathe that air and contemplate the gift of life in that moment. The ode might be a response to how the landscape made me feel, or how I felt about my life at the moment I was there, or how I wished for something different at the time. Some of my work is like an advertisement for people to get out and see awesome places in person, and other work is like a different way to think about or experience a work of art based on a landscape painting. I have a lot of ideas regarding the organic and chaotic ways landscapes come into being and how they could be depicted in a static work of traditional painting.

I’ve never fully differentiated being an artist from the rest of my life. Somehow all the experiences and indecisions in the trial and error of life make their way into the artwork and the longer I live I hope the denser the work can get. Life isn’t easy but I’m compelled to keep going and it is the same with making art. It isn’t always easy or pleasurable but it is worth it in the end. For me being an artist is more a marathon than a sprint and I feel comfortable being like a bristlecone pine, slow and consistent growth over the years ending up as some alien looking being full of its own weirdness and, hopefully, unique beauty.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
It is always bouncing between the art museums and galleries, then heading to the nearby areas for some solitude and landscape experiences. I am a big fan of the National Park Service, Forrest Service, BLM, and all that they have to offer people. I love stringing together multiple NPS sites with a few days of camping and ending up with a few museums and good food. Luckily in Arizona we have a lot of great opportunities for the outdoors. It is why I moved here to begin with. And I think the arts scene is better than what is expected when people get out and give it a chance. And the trips I take are always organic and prone to change depending on conditions in the area, so I usually have multiple plans and backup options. It’s hard to go wrong in Arizona!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Veterans and Veteran arts Organizations: Warrior Healing Center in Sierra Vista Arizona
Veteran Art Institute

And working artists I am affiliated with in the past and present at Gallery 32 in Bisbee Arizona.

Website: https://johnfirestoneart.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnfirestone_art/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-firestone-35a95911

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnFirestoneart