John Forward

John Forward is a watercolour painter, using a loose and representational style that he considers is best suited to the natural characteristics of the medium. As a member of the St. Ives Society of Artists, John exhibits regularly at the members’ gallery and at galleries in Devon and Cornwall. Now aged 50, John trained as an architect and worked for some years in Nigeria and Borneo. On returning to the UK, he decided that he should return to his first love – art - and for the past thirteen years has been a professional artist. He now lives and works at Ashwater in Devon and draws inspiration from the rolling landscape around his smallholding and the stretch of rugged coastline from Crackington Haven to Hartland.

His work is highly regarded, and a recent review of one of his paintings in the American magazine ‘The Artist’ described his work as being ‘consistent with the finest traditions of watercolour in England’.

‘After 10 years of almost full time painting I’ve found that the best way to paint is to let the watercolour paint itself’ says John, ‘careful planning and the courage to ‘go with the flow’ when something unexpected happens, simply brings the artwork alive’.

He also hosts painting workshops at Henford Studio and in Stratford On Avon.