©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mt. Airy artist, 83, does not believe in ‘that talent stuff’
by CANDIDA DeFONSECA

John Graham, of Mt. Airy, seen last month during an exhibit of his works at the Manayunk Art Center.

At 83 years old, Mount Airy resident John Graham has had his share of life experiences. One he can add to the list is an art show with fellow painter John Hagarty at the Manayunk Art Center at 419 Green Lane. Featured artists for the month of June, they were part of “Paintings in Color,” a show that ran through June 25.

“The first time I enjoyed art was when I was in second grade,” said Graham, who got started because he doodled away his class time. “I fooled the teacher, who thought I was taking notes, and I was doodling a lot.

“My education was sort of mixed up.” When Graham was a child, he had polio and as a result, missed a bit of school.

Graham dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Army for one year. When World War II broke out, however, he ended up serving for five years. After his service, he went to the School of Industrial Art, now known as the Philadelphia College of Art, under the GI bill.

“I told them I graduated from high school, and they believed me,” he said. “Well, they didn’t quite believe me. I was on probation for awhile.”

He loved college and learned how to study while taking Psychology. “I got all D’s before, and suddenly I was getting A’s.”

He enjoys expressionist painting the most, “If someone’s mad, you make the face red; if they’re jealous, you make them green.” The movement started in Germany in the early 1900s.

Instead of working like the impressionists and doing everything under a structure with certain agreed-upon rules, expressionists thought all those techniques were inhibiting artists from being creative, according to Graham.

“I think art is a great thing,” Graham said. “I think art can be better than liberal arts.”

Graham had a one-man show at the Manayunk Art Center several years ago, to which he brought all his paintings. He has also had several other one-man shows in other galleries.

“For the last two years I have been painting a lot…. I thought it would be nice to show them, maybe I could sell some.” It is also an “ego thing,” he said. “It’s nice to see your paintings on the wall.”

His current favorite piece is one he had in the Manayunk show, called “Pink Ballet.” He did it in the croquis style, which consists of quick, sketchy drawings of a live model. He then transposed the different poses and “cut them all up.”

Graham had 24 paintings in the show, differentiated with yellow labels. “John, my partner, I think he had 15 or 16.”

Graham has also worked with different artistic media besides painting. He used to do subtraction woodcutting, in which the artist cuts away at the wood until there is little left. He did it for a number of years, but it wore him out, he said. “It was a lot of work, so I decided to get into painting.” He also wrote a manuscript about his military service and has sold a number to friends and family. He publishes them himself with a color copy machine.

He has sold several of his woodcuts, three at the Philadelphia Art Museum and one at Swarthmore College, among other buyers.

He has some artwork in his home, both his and his wife’s (she does watercolors). “I’m sure my wife is sick of it, I have it all over the walls,” he said of his work. His wife, however, disagreed.

Graham worked at Aero Service Corporation for 17 years modeling relief maps. He worked for the Apollo space program. He’s also worked at some notable places in the area, including the Wagner Free Institute of Science and the Academy of Natural Sciences. He is currently at the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks.

He also taught night classes at the Philadelphia College of Art for several years. “I was attending night school, and I couldn’t get a parking spot anywhere, what a hassle. Then I learned if you’re a teacher you get a free parking spot. So I decided to be a teacher.”

Sometimes he still attends art classes and says that when the teacher puts up a still-life, other students portray it as is. However, Graham said there is “no sense in painting things as they are; you might as well take out your camera or do computer graphics.” He says that rather than mechanically reproduce something, he would rather think about how it affects him and how to represent that feeling. “Sometimes I don’t even look at it, I get the idea of it. I see what is in my mind…rather than being a slave to what’s in front of me.”

When asked about his talent, Graham said, “I don’t believe in that talent stuff; it was just something to do. I had imagination.”