My artistic style and method, as well as my philosophy about art, are founded in my admiration for Northern European realism, American realism, and Tonalism. As a craftsman, I build surface and texture through layered oil painting combined with thin applications of translucent glazing. I have found that such an approach allows me to capture light as well as render form that has an intrinsic identity and offers the viewer a subtle expression of beauty as it is found in landscape, still life, and figure. I study and report form by concurrently sketching and painting as
I move a work forward to completion. Using this method, combined with traditional aesthetic principles, allows me to create contemporary images that are luminous, tonal, evocative, and spiritual and that connect with the viewer on a personal level. By indulging in form and the aesthetic, I attempt to paint the denominators most common to human beings in their search for the beautiful and sublime. Thus I hope my art offers a connection to good things.
About the artist
In 2019, John Van Dreal took a three-year sabbatical from producing large
collections of art to develop his violence prevention consulting company.
As the company reached its fruition, he returned to long days in the studio
and now has more than 40 new paintings completed for exhibit.
A third-generation Van Dreal artist, John began painting at age 7 with
instruction from his father, an accomplished watercolor artist. With the
support of his parents—each providing encouragement in the form of
ideas, creativity, work ethic, and financial support—John continued to
paint, study, and refine his skills.
He received his formal art education from Brigham Young University,
earning his BFA under the instruction of the Greenwich Workshop artist
James C. Christensen, the oil painter Bruce Smith, and the printmaker
Jenni Christenson. After finishing his BFA, John completed his graduate
work in educational psychology.
An award-winning artist, John has received much recognition through solo
and group exhibitions at a number of galleries in the Northwest as well as
in the South. Additionally, he has exhibited at the University of Oregon
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Hallie Ford
Museum of Art, Coos Art Museum, AN Bush Gallery, Corvallis Arts Center,
University of Portland Buckley Center Gallery, and Western Oregon
University Cannon Gallery of Art. His works are included in several notable
private collections as well as the public collections of Hallie Ford Museum
of Art, Coos Art Museum, Yaquina River Museum of Art, Mahonia Hall
Governor’s Mansion, Maryhill Museum of Art, Bush House Museum,
Bakersfield Museum of Art, University of Portland, and the print collections
of Brigham Young University and Illinois University.
Born in Colorado and raised in Southern California, John has been a
resident of Oregon for more than 35 years. Besides being an artist, he is
the author of four books of nonfiction and poetry, a musician, a school
psychologist, an internationally recognized leader in violence prevention
and behavioral threat assessment, and the retired director of Security,
Safety, and Risk Management Services for Salem-Keizer Public Schools.
John is dedicated to his community, supporting a number of nonprofit arts
and human services organizations. Finally, he is lucky to be the partner of a
gifted school counselor and the proud father of two brilliant adult children.
