At the age of 21 he became a professional graphic designer with a firm in Phoenix, and at the age of 25 he launched his own graphic design company. By the age of 26 he was commissioned to paint a large exterior mural upon the walls of the Insurance Building at 610 Gold in downtown Albuquerque. This mural, entitled “Spring Cottonwoods” won the Beautiful Albuquerque Award in May of 1986. In 1987 John made the transition from Albuquerque to Santa Fe to work in a renowned artistic environment. This transition would prove to be a meaningful one for him artistically. His artistic attention embraced the study of door and furniture making as well as wood finishing, learning from some of the great craftsmen of Northern New Mexico. John’s devotion to authentic New Mexico styling has been steadfast and he has made innovations of his own along the way that have lead to the unmistakable character of his pieces. “I specialize in the applied illusion of aged patinas, texturing, adzing and coloration that serves to transform ordinary lumber into art pieces,” says John. “This process uncovers the grain of the woods and makes the finished doors or furniture appear as old and weathered as I wish them to be.”

Not all homes in the Southwest are Old World style. There is an advent of new and modern southwest architecture which calls to something different and exciting. Today, John is dedicated to bringing the simplicity and natural beauty of exotic woods from around the world to the forefront. He has developed a design system called WovenWoods™. The components are interwoven together creating an unusual and often delightful visual effect. WovenWoods™ speaks to a few essential elements of woodcraft, namely grain and spacing. WovenWoods™ products utilize exotic wood species to create a Contemporary Southwest look. Johns selects from woods such as lacewood from Australia, zebra, canary, wenge, mahogany, blood wood and purple heart from West Africa. The key is to both utilize and accentuate the natural grains and beauty of each specie of wood. “With so many beautiful woods to choose from I look forward to creating one unique design after another for some time to come,” John says. Each piece that John creates is unique and the homeowner is provided a Certificate of Authenticity. In doing so, John wants to provide the home or business owner with a piece that is not just part of a structure but a visual enhancement to the structure, a unique piece of art in wood.

WovenWoods™ may be utilized to create doors, furniture, cabinetry, wall sculpture, display cases, fireplace mantels and lighting screens to name a few. “I think that the design applications are as limitless as the imagination itself,” says John.