Artist John Lackey of Lexington put aside nearly twenty years of printmaking, as well as his day job as art director at a TV station, several years ago to pursue painting full time. His landscapes are informed by two decades of carving blocks, which has resulted in a somewhat linear element to his style, and at times, a tendency to layer. These paintings are all based on photographs taken while out hiking or driving (except the ones just based on doodles).

By painting landscapes of points of interest both regional and national, in a fluid language of birds and bops, these pieces strive to combine the beauty of natural structures with the energy of people and their civilizations, leaving hazy implications in the grasses and leaves, revealing the shadow of a fleeting imprint of an underlying order, only hints of which will we understand, until we see it all from a far greater perspective. Abstract patterns form. A new path along a familiar creek. Dancing leaves. Faces in the trees. We’ve all seen ‘em.

He tries to keep his landscapes landscapes, and his abstracts abstracts, but each is drawn to the other. In these fractious times, a little melding is a balm. John lives with his wife and two sons in Lexington, KY. He hopes to add carving block prints back into the mix soon, as well as an illustrated book of poetry, some filmmaking, and a children's book or three.

He still does the occasional freelance job (quite a few here lately), whether it be a birth announcement, logo design, the window of a restaurant, such as Alfalfa, or a mural, like that at Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers. He has done most of the art for the Terrapin Hill Farm Festival series, and recently had the good fortune to be an art editor and art contributor to Spit In The Ocean #7, a tribute to Ken Kesey by his friends and contemporaries, edited by author Ed McClanahan, which led to a book tour on the west coast aboard Kesey’s bus Furthur, with many members of the intrepid Merry Pranksters.

He has exhibits currently scheduled for Alfalfa Restaurant and The Living Arts & Science Center scheduled for this Fall. New paintings on the way!

You can see his paintings and prints during Gallery Hops and by appointment in his studio at Galerie Soleil on Short Street in Lexington, and on the web at www.homegrownpress.com. He can be reached at j4lackey@insightbb.com.