John Ryerson Bredin • Born, June 19, 1944, Chicago, Illinois 

Current Residence : St. James City, Florida

I’ve been living my life near the water for many years now, most of my life actually, with Surfing, Sailing, and Diving as major activities for me. After working for many years in the Surfboard industry in Southern California my family and I moved to Florida where I’ve worked as an illustrator for Caribbean Soul and Margaritaville producing lifestyle related images, companies in which Jimmy Buffett is a partner.

I still do commercial graphics work but in addition to that, I paint images from my travels on the water and my life here in Pine Island, a laid back place which for years has been left behind, unnoticed by the developers. I’ve been back and forth across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas countless times and look forward to the next sail as eagerly as the first. We owned a Cross Trimaran, 40 feet overall, sort of a racer/cruiser, and sailed in our back yard, (the Pine Island Sound, on Florida’s west coast), as well as the annual outing to the Bahamas. We sold Sister Whisper recently and bought a smaller boat for local  sailing. We have begun trailer camping with our dogs now as well.

My work and the images I present are said to have a magical quality. They are neither photo-realism, surrealism, nor impressionism but are influenced by each of these styles. Having had many years of involvement with commercial illustration I have a strong foundation of technical skill, attention to detail and exposure to many types of media. I currently paint with acrylic paint on canvas using traditional techniques as well as airbrush. The images I paint are from my life and project a calm, more or less simplified vision of reality with some areas of the canvas in pinpoint detail and other areas as though seen at a glance. My work is further characterized by the frequent use of contrasting brilliant color and heavy stipple creating the illusion of a richly textured surface. The subjects I paint have personal and special meaning to me and through my skill with airbrush, transparent layering and other traditional techniques I attempt to let the viewer share some part of my lifestyle and see the shore-side environment through my eyes.