John MacDonald’s love of the landscape is rooted in his childhood experiences in the open fields and intimate woodlands of Indiana. After years of painting on location, he came to deeply appreciate the transient yet timeless beauty of the shifting light and color of the landscape, an appreciation he shares with his two greatest artistic influences: the American Tonalist painters and the Classical Nature Poets of China. Like them, MacDonald strives to say as much as possible with as little as possible — to subtlety suggest forms rather than overtly describe them. He hopes to hint at the greater reality that lies behind the surface by leaving some unresolved mystery on the canvas that entices the viewer to enter and explore the landscape further.

MacDonald attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he received a B.F.A. in 1979. Following a four-month intensive printmaking workshop at the Institute for American Universities in Avignon, France, he received an M.A. in drawing and painting from Purdue University in 1982. His paintings have been shown in numerous solo and group shows in Canada and the United States and can be found in collections throughout North America. Professional memberships have included the Society of Illustrators, the Illustrators’ Partnership of America, the National Association of Plein Air Painters, Oil Painters of America, the Graphic Artists Guild, and the American Tonalist Society.

MacDonald is represented by Greylock Gallery (Williamstown, MA), Ceres Gallery (Portsmouth, NH), Lily Pad Gallery (Watch Hill, RI) and Lily Pad Gallery West (Milwaukee, WI), Warm Springs Gallery (Warm Springs, VA), Christopher-Clark Fine Art (San Francisco), and Plasteel Frames & Gallery (Seattle).