John Suplee Items

John Suplee

John Suplee is currently being featured as one of three artists included in a group exhibition entitled, Dually Noted: 3 Chester County Artists Present Their Paintings & Share The Stories Behind Them. John is a featured artist in our gallery. Please read his biography to learn more about his experiences.  Below we have assembled his available works under a single exhibition category.  Enjoy!

This idea started as one of my standard “vines-on-signs” pictures, but a sudden family crisis gave the subject new, more serious layers of meaning.  Things came out all right in the end, but not all stories are meant for sharing. 

Seen against a moonlit sky, these bright white blossoms unexpectedly become the paintings dark element.  (Kakemono is a Japanese term for a vertical- format, decorative picture).

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This Ancient persimmon tree has coexisted with the dense vine choking it since I can remember.  It stands in front of our favorite rental cottage on Yale Avenue in Cape May Point.  

For about two hours in September 2010, it was host to a migratory “monarch roost” – covered with thousands of...

This poetic, imaginary scene does all of its own talking.

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This painting shows a Japanese Influence.  A midday drive in the country reminded me how beautiful dried corn is, but that’s the only real visual input behind this piece.  

Memory and imagination have combined forces to create an image that is both decorative and contemplative...

Toiling with admirable diligence and care, the neighbors across Miner Street have groomed their sidewalk and curb area into a lively floral display.

My own more modest noodging of the Borough Weed Ordinance, namely the sunflower cluster depicted in Gerry’s Kids, appears at the far end.

This small rendition of Sunset From Superfresh has a subtly different feel from the large version.  I don’t really mind not having total control- paintings, like kids, should be free to find their own identities.

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We could not easily name the large vine that sprouted in the flower bed but - mostly out of curiousity - decided not to disturb it.  By Summer’s end it had engulfed ten feet of our back steps, put forth dozens of huge orange blossoms, and finally - produced one small, perfect pumpkin.

This...

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The North side entry into West Chester is Extraordinary for its lack of commercial clutter.  Throughout my life it has been flanked by a double colonnade of plane trees worthy of many European capital.  By now, age and attribution have eroded the grand symmetry of their ranks almost to the breaking point....

Zoning out on the beach you see a lot of paddleball; but again only the thought not visual really, informed this work. 

As it took shape, I found myself channeling the work of Grigory Gluckmann (1898-1959) a little-known (but just try to buy one!!) painter of misty, poetic figures. 

Among the similarities here are the hairstyles, the soft, pudgy body types and the...

The painter Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851 – 1938) often depicts elegant yet distant women, their gaze averted, shrouded in a mysterious haze that follows them everywhere – even indoors! 

A similar misty atmosphere seems to veil this American- looking but totally imaginary wraith.   Dewing would probably have loved swimming pool blue.  

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Think of all the effort and schemeing put forth by mankind to come up with a squirrel-proof bird feeder!  Nature's simple answer is the somewhat trashy multi-headed sunflower. 

I hardly ever paint birds, but when I first laid in the one goldfinch (it took only seconds) I was surprised by how...

This painting serves as an apology to my spouse and to the neighbors, who this year have had to live with the ragtag mix of flowers I planted along the street side of our house.  It took forever to grow, and from the start I've been calling it "le Jardin Pathetique".  I plunged into the painting with no clear plan, but midway through felt a helpful tap on the...

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When presented for the idea for this show the 3 artists quickly agreed to work together on a single Chester County motif.  It seemed only right to choose the view of Valley Creek from the north end of Connor Road, a view many other local artists have found worthy of attention.  Our artists agreed to meet...