John Spencer creates vibrant acrylics, oil, watercolours and pencil drawings from his local studio, showcasing landscape and figurative works across a growing body of work. David Simper caught the service 61 bus down to HIVE coffee shop and gallery to catch the bonfire night opening of his second exhibition of paintings for 2026 and speak to the artist.
I had reviewed John’s April 2026 exhibition and been impressed. This set of images is a step up and they are really very strong. All painted in oil, there is a great consistency across the set. John is a master of colour-mixing and application.
While retaining John’s previous confident but loose brushwork, the compositions are precise and striking. There is complexity here, particularly where there is water or vegetation. Subjects are varied and include a reference to a favourite film, The Witch (2015) directed by Robert Eggars.
The exhibition’s core is the idea is to document some of the things the artist encounters on his favourite walk. I got the chance to chat to John about his work and its progression.
David: Tell us about the content of this exhibition.
John: I’m doing a guided painting course that has an exercise to produce six paintings of a walk I’ve enjoyed for 20 years. If you follow these paintings correctly, you can do the same walk. It’s three miles and if I can manage it most people can. When I was fit and younger, I walked dogs down this route. My kids have walked this route and they’re grown men these days. It’s a I use to de-stress.
I believe this exhibition came about at the last minute?
That’s true yes, I’m filling in for another artist’s exhibition. My exhibition was supposed to be next year, but I was asked to come earlier due to a non-attendance basically. It happens, people can’t always make things. It’s nice to help out where you can and I had the paintings to cover it.
There seems to be a development in brush style since your last show.
This is deliberate. I feel I’m painting looser than I used to. I’ve re-embraced the major Impressionists and I’ve been reading about Norwegian painter Munch and feel this is coming out a little bit in my paintings. I’m very inspired. I love Monet and Van Gogh anyway and I’ve jumped into the very linear, hard style that Munch showed in his paintings.
Has there been any change in materials?
These are all oil. I like acrylic, but I was challenged – people always say, ‘you should try that’ and you say, ‘no no’. you should listen to them. I tried it and I thought, I like this in fact more than acrylic. Oil takes longer to dry, but that gives more time to fix problems. You can dash out to pick the kids up and it’ll still be workable when you get back. There’s more adaptability for it and I’ve learnt so much using a medium I wasn’t used to.
What does the future hold for your work?
I think I will be working towards some portraits and sketch work, especially as it’s coming up to Christmas. I have a commission for a family portrait so when I get the pictures I will be cracking on with that one. Next year I have another show around August here at HIVE again however, I’m looking to expand to different galleries and to just keep painting, because that’s all you can do.
Thanks to John for these insights into his work. The exhibition continues until 15th December 2026. See more of the artist’s work at johnnytbeard.art.
