John A. Copley of Ypsilanti

I love to paint. As a child I once painted myself Prussian blue using the oil paint from my sister’s paint box. (I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.) I graduated from the University of Michigan School of Art in 1969, and since then I have been a sign painter, an illustrator, and a muralist. I have painted backdrops and scenery for plays and operas, and rocks for the Detroit Auto Show. I even spent a year painting the lines in the streets of Ann Arbor. I have worked in oils, acrylics, watercolors, pen and ink, dye, and pencil.

Art has always been a part of my life. I am interested in the pursuit of the careful and successful organization of objects to achieve balance and harmony within a defined space. I am a great admirer of Impressionism and try to capture that sense of immediacy in my landscapes. The boat paintings are wonderful exercises in precision, the study of different reflective surfaces and the movement of light and shadow.

Some of the paintings in this show involve the juxtaposition of man-made and natural forms, such as boats and water or farms and skies, and the solutions to these potentially difficult compositional challenges. Others simply represent my love of the natural beauty of Michigan and especially the Rogers City area that has been a part of my life for 45 years, and I hope will continue to inspire me.