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Reception on April 11th, from 6-8 pm

Marquette Arts & Culture Center

217 North Front St., Marquette, MI

Free and open to the public

Artist’s Statement

I may be riding in a car or tramping through the woods on snowshoes, constantly scanning my surroundings for images that might produce an exciting painting.  Usually I go hiking for periods of thirty minutes to three hours and shoot from 30-200 images, which I later review as to which hold painting potential.  I crop and adjust the image on my computer and then work from a monitor to create the final painting.  Generally, I work on one painting at a time and develop it as far as I can in one day.  Often I have 2-3 paintings at that stage, and will over time , continue to further refine it until I have reached the final resolution.  Usually the original reference is soon put aside, so that changes can be made that benefit the final outcome, and are not influenced by the original reference photo.

Oil paints are my primary media, but I often begin the work with a ground tone created with acrylics.  Acrylics allow for fast drying and are a way of introducing hue as a foil for the image to come.  The subjects are predominately based on the local landscape and have been developing for the past  twenty-odd years.  Initially the work begins with ideas evolving from direct observation of my surroundings as they are affected by changes of season, and environmental factors such as atmospheric conditions and time of day.   The one primary concern was always how “light” changes appearances and creates visual patterns.

Any subject can be manipulated by altering the light source.  Therefore what might be a “boring” image, or one that went unnoticed, changes  dramatically when a bright light source is introduced.  For this reason, I normally go in search of material only on sunny days.  Any object or item in the visual field has the potential for a painting.  In addition to the trees and water, I have developed interests in such things as Ravens, machinery and rock formations.  Most recently I have returned to the landscape and how it is altered by the changing atmospheric factors.

These paintings are my interpretations of what I see.  They are not meant to be “photographic “ in their appearance, but demonstrate an interest in developing a “shorthand” that conveys the essential  information before me.  That individuality is what distinguishes one artists work from another.  The way they create marks on a surface, their color choices, what they include or eliminate and how the image is presented, are all visual text for thought.

Biography of John Hubbard:

Professor Hubbard developed the Drawing and Painting and Printmaking concentrations in the Art and Design program at Northern Michigan University.
As a professional artist, he has been included in over 200 juried exhibitions, 16 one-person exhibitions, and seven two-person exhibitions. He has served as a juror for seven exhibitions in the Midwest, and was awarded two Creative Artists Grants from the Michigan Council for the Arts.

In 2005, he was selected Artist in Residence at Isle Royale by the National Park Service. He has conducted numerous workshops, and has work in 20 permanent collections, including Dow Chemical Company, Michigan Bell Telephone, Ford Motor Company, Kansas State University, Neville Public Museum, Austin Peay State University, Brueckner Museum, as well as many private collections.

Since his retirement from teaching at Northern Michigan University in 2014, he has continued to pursue his work as a practicing artist, concentrating his efforts in painting.

The Deo Gallery in located at the Marquette Arts & Culture Center on the lower level of the Peter White Public Library, 217 North Front St., Marquette. The gallery is free and open to the public.