John Willer’s inimitable style could be described as a symbiotic union of Claude Monet, Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. John’s energetic brushwork and vast mastery of subject matter, combined with his personal color sense, result in some provocative images. He has won awards too numerous to recount and his work can be found in collections all over the world--including the collection of Alice Walton. After graduating from the Memphis College of Art, he has travelled all over the country—using Eureka Springs as his home base. He is one of the founding members of the White Street Studio Walk during the annual Eureka Springs May Fine Arts Festival. His work has been represented by many galleries. He paints with the Plein Air Painters of Eureka Springs on a regular basis. 

Born in Rochester, New York, in 1946, John displayed an early interest in art, taking art classes from grade school through high school and then on to art college. He began making a living with art in 1970—doing street fairs and outdoor shows, gallery exhibitions, teaching, and commissions. He is presently painting full-time with occasional gallery shows.

“I paint for my own amazement. Painting is like breathing and sleeping, something I have to do. I work in all paint media, but truly love oil paint—the movement, texture, even the smell. Most of my paintings start as abstracts. I love the process of finding and developing subjects within the abstract images. Process is everything.”

–John Robert Willer