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Water, Pigment, and Wow
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: December 2023
For Cover Artist John Cannon, there’s beauty to be discovered in, yes, contrived sloppiness.
About six years ago, John Cannon, then a newly retired Oral Maxillofacial Surgeon, sprang from his disciplined medical career to splash into a pool of wondrous watercolor. Imagine switching brain-gears from the meticulous to a kind of controlled looseness. He laughs, calling his latest endeavor a “dive into contrived sloppiness.” After years of hibernation, his inner artist re-awakened and is now happily wading knee-deep in a world of water, pigment, and wow.
Watercolor wasn’t Cannon’s first painting experience. In earlier years he’d experimented with oil and acrylic, but leading a physician’s life and putting kids through college demanded all his time. “I never had formal training. I was always in the sciences: medical training, head and neck anatomy, facial features, tissue and bones,” Cannon says. “Watercolor wasn’t on my radar until my dad started it.”
Watercolor’s challenge is that there’s no surgery this, or any surgeon, can perform to undo anything. Once it’s done, it’s done. It has a will of its own in which physics (gravity, absorption, dispersion, etc.) play a huge role. Yes, more science – perhaps that’s part of the Cannon intrigue. This doctor turned artist was welcomed into the Highlands-Cashiers Art League and Cannon found himself in the midst of kindred souls. He’s still shaking his head in wonder. “I’m so grateful to be on the Laurel cover … and to be in shows, and to sell work.”
Commissions and selling, however, are not his focus. To him, compliments on his contrived sloppiness from his artist peers and his audience are as good as gold. Though Cannon didn’t study art in college, he, like his dad, sought mentoring from Fred Rawlinson of Memphis. “He’s been a critical element in developing my style. Most of my compositions are done within an hour, a blend of realism with an impressionistic verve. But it has to be fresh. Strokes can’t be labored. The more spontaneous you are, the better the outcome.”
You can see Cannon’s work at the Art League of Highlands-Cashiers semi-annual shows, select exhibits at The Bascom, and other displays. For more information, contact him at [email protected].
