We caught up with the brilliant and insightful John Hughes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have John with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My parents worked hard their whole lives, so I suppose I inherited much of my work ethic from them. When I was a child, I considered work to be a drudge, but as I grew and developed I soon realized that work, especially work that one loves, is very fulfilling. It’s for this reason, at this stage of my life, I crave the work that I am involved in!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a landscape painter, which also includes seascapes as well as cityscapes. I have been doing this for over 40 years now and I am just as excited about my work today as I was when I first started. I also write articles for magazines on this subject and am currently writing for Outdoor Painter – (Plein Air Magazine’s on line newsletter). At present I have close to 100 articles which I have written for various art publications. In addition to all of that, I teach painting one day a week at Salt Lake Community College and host painting workshops as well. Currently I am working with the Scottsdale Artists School to put on a painting workshop in the Grand Tetons next fall.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I’m thinking that patience has to be at the top of that list. Not that I am always a patient person, I’m really not, but I am when it counts, and I do know that there are times when employing that skill can be advantageous for anyone. Secondly, I’ve also learned to break down tasks into smaller usable chunks; a skill that I learned as a special education teacher for over 30 years before retiring. Analyzing complex operations not only helped me to be effective in that arena, but also in explaining the process of painting landscapes to my current art students. Skill number three is really two related things – (The ability to read often on subjects such as art, and then organizing my thoughts through the process of writing, which helps me not only to be an effective instructor, but a better artist as well.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
I credit my Mother for setting me on this art path, which started in our small New York City apartment when I was a very young child. For some reason she always told me that I was an artist and I believed her! It may have been the fact that I used to regularly copy the headlines, as well as the cover photo from The New York Daily News on a chalkboard, starting at around age 3 or 4 that first caught her attention. From then on I never lacked for art supplies and learning opportunities in my growing years. On the other hand, I credit my Father for my love of nature. He was a New York City Policeman who would take the family to places like the Adirondacks in the summer on vacations. These were wonderful excursions into nature that have continued to inspire me about the land my whole life long. The combination of these two things form the basis of what I do now, and I will always be grateful to them both!
Contact Info:
- Website: johnhughesstudio.com
- Instagram: johnhughesstudio
- Facebook: John Hughes and John Hughes Artist
- Other: John Hughes Author Outdoor Painter
Image Credits
John Hughes
