It’s been many months in the planning and a huge honour for John’s art work to be part of the Falkland Islands Museum 2022 commemoration. It’s poignant on many levels, because at 17 John was unable to complete his Degree at Glasgow School of Art due to family financial circumstances which required his support. In Glasgow, John was left with little employment choice, as it was either the steel works, coal mines or the military and he opted to join the Royal Navy to travel the world. At first he found this very exciting, to visit new places, be in the sun, meet new people and cultures. His heart though, never gave up on his dream of being an artist full time, and John became known the ‘Painter in Uniform’, exhibiting whenever he could onshore.
I too, at 17, had to give up on my dream of being an artist and my degree at St Martin’s School of Art, for the same family financial reasons. At a time when I was in the company of others such as Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten, who I’d met at Kingsway Princeton where I did my exams. Like John, I conformed and also left home with limited employment choices and chose an office based career that eventually allowed me to climb a corporate ladder.
It was some 30 years later that our paths crossed through the online Saatchi Art site, then owned by renowned art collector Charles Saatchi. We became part of a group of friends all artists and even though I’ve yet to meet many of them, our friendships have been going for more than 10 years. Initially we’d all planned to meet in a group residency in Seattle, Washington followed by an Exhibition of our work and started to meet each other, which is how I met John. We fell in love and followed our dreams together of being full time artists always encouraging and supporting each other.
I watched each of the paintings going to the Falkland Islands Museum, being created. I witnessed how John struggled with his combat related PTSD and know the cost of each brush stroke, scrape and canvas tear; how this was an expression of the price he paid for defending our country for 28 years. Each painting has a story, an expression based on John’s most intimate feelings, traumas and experiences, many of which he was unable to verbalise and could only become overwhelmed by. He often spoke of being in the creative ‘zone’ a place where time stood still, with no past, or future; thoughts, emotions all rumbled together coming out as energy onto the canvas for hours on end. Eventually he’d snap out of it, and sometimes it was resolved and remained a painting, but more often reworked over and over again.
Many of the paintings have an exhibition and museum provenance, having been used to raise awareness of PTSD and the hidden costs of war whether military or civilian. Having served in the 1982 Falkands War on HMS Plymouth it is such an honour for John that these artworks will be included in the 2022 Commemoration and the Museum’s collections. As John also had a 2007 sell out exhibition in the Falkland Islands to raise money for their Veterans Centre who provide respite and pilgrimages for Veterans and their families.
The Falkland Islands have always been very close to John’s heart, and he would have been chuffed and thrilled to bits with such a major exhibition that keeps his art, all he gave and sacrificed during his military service, alive and relevant. It’s also profoundly fitting that his artworks and personal effects, such as uniform and easel, will be on a slow sail to the Falkland Islands, he would have loved that too. I’m also thrilled and chuffed to bits, because when we married I promised John his dream of being ‘an artist all day and every day’ and I couldn’t have wished for a better tribute and celebration of his life, our love and all those who supported and stood by us during our short 11 1/2 years together. John’s impact on us all has been profound and my love and gratitude to all those who are enabling this momentous Falkland Islands Museum 2022 commemoration to happen, especially Andrea Barlow, Director of the Museum and National Trust.
My deepest thanks to Frazier Mcbain of Mcbains & Co removals, for all their professional support and making the transport of all John’s things so smoothly and easily, as it was quite a momentous and emotional event for me; one that allows closure to profound loss and grief, helps me move on and ‘be an artist all day every day’ as John promised me.
#johnmcdermott #annamcdermott #artists #love #followyourdreams #friends #falklandislandsmuseum #falklandislands #royalnavy #FIM2022 #2022 #art #museum #contemporaryartist