The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2025 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
John Howitt
ArtistBay Village Ohio 44140 United StatesHome 561 Woodlane Dr. County: OH
BAY VILLAGE Ohio 44140-2668 United States Home Phone: 2163479728
Bio
Hello, my name is John Howitt; I am an abstract expressionist painter currently living in Cleveland, Ohio. I have a BA from Kent State University in Fine and Professional Arts with a major in painting and a minor in music. I received a four-year scholarship to Blossoms summer painting program. After school, I owned a mural company; my paintings have been in many local galleries such as 78th Street Studios, KSU Gallery, Heights Arts, and MOCA.
While in Kent, I learned methods, materials, and techniques of traditional painting. I was educated extensively in studio practices on mediums, grounds, and how to make a painting last forever. It was mixing art and science together and furthered my interest. My work is very influenced by this learning. My work is created with paint I make from raw pigment and different binders. I make my own stretchers and stretch different materials, sealing the work to protect the work from oxidation or any other deterioration. I also paint in encaustic and make my own Damar varnish, etc. I love the process of working with raw pigments; I rarely use paint out of the tube. My studio wall has a collection of pigments and jars with bright pigment powders mixed and ready to paint. Some days I will just make paint or grounds. I have jars and jars and jars in my studio of my personal mixed paint.
I work with improvisation and gut feelings. They are mistakes upon mistakes due to my chance aesthetic. The works are about color and the balance of subtle shapes. My work is two dimensional, but I look to create an object that transcends my aesthetic of improvisation, dealing with change, creating a beautiful object and finding purpose in life.
Artist Statement
Making paint, mediums, grounds and working with raw material I paint with no preconceived ideas. I am interested in the flow of nature, spirituality, peacefulness, rhythm, and solace. I am interested in color theory and synesthesia. I work with the parallels between color, tone, and notes in music and visual art. I am interested in the intersection of visual art and science. I believe color can work like music. My goal in pushing paint in the end is to create compositions that surpass the limitations of words.
My paintings are conceived and executed with experimental color placement and layering, much as a musician forms a melody through improvisation. By printing this way, I can create harmony or disharmony…bright and concise with a rhythm that shouts at the viewer– something on key, something off key. To me, each printed mark I see as notes, leading to a finished composition.