John Shestak is an artist who creates acrylic and oil paintings, ranging from genres of abstracts, to landscapes with dramatic skies, to portraits, mostly of musicians and, by popular request, of friends’ dogs. Most currently, the artist has developed an identity that primarily lies in his abstract works. This identity began to evolve during college when he was introduced to the approach of painting “non-observationally.” Rather than painting what the artist sees, he paints from within. John often begins an abstract painting without specific intent for what the finished image will be, but only having a general idea of a subject matter. Inspired mostly by music and color, John mentally organizes the forms and colors he sees from the music playing to represent that particular piece’s theme. John’s painting, The Next Movement, can be considered the first example of his new and innovative method, with its image portraying a colorful body of a subtle cityscape that appears to be floating and moving forward across the piece. Hanging from the cityscape are roots, as from a tree, which represent awareness for where John began as an artist. Its title implies the beginning of the artist’s newly-found, artistic direction.

 

John was represented by Lime Tree Gallery in Louisville, Kentucky (2008-2009) and was recently a part of a collaborative show at Blueline Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana.

 

His wall murals can be seen around the town of Bloomington, Indiana. John has a large mural inside the clubhouse at Village of Muller Park, has restored the outdoor mural representation of School of Athens on 17th St and Walnut St, and has created a ceiling mural in a residential office.

 

John graduated in 2007 with his B.F.A. from Indiana University and additionally obtained minors in Art History and Business. He has resided in Bloomington ever since and currently works at Cook Pharmica, enabling him to create his artwork on the side. Valparaiso, Indiana is John’s hometown.