AMERICAN PORTRAIT ARTIST
The Portrait Society of America continues to recognize John Ennis as a rising star in the field of portraiture. In the last few years he has won over eight awards from this organization alone, as well as numerous awards from many other institutions. He recently authored articles for International Artist Magazine and The Artist's Magazine, and has been the subject of several feature articles in other publications throughout the U.S.
A native of Bucks County, PA, John's art studies began at age twelve and have continued throughout his life. After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute, College of Art, he moved to New York City to study painting at the Art Students League of New York. He considers this a seminal moment in his career, taking classes with painters whose art training had been passed down through generations of teachers dating back to the French Academy of the nineteenth century.
At the core of his skills as a portrait painter is his ability to portray not just the likeness but the character and personality of the subject. In his own words, "There are few art forms that lend themselves more to the expression of the human experience than painting a portrait. I use what time I have with a portrait subject to explore their life, their personality, and the perception of the people that know and love them. When I step up to the canvas, I am searching for something about them, their character, their love of life, their place in our world, but ultimately I am expressing my perception of them. It's a shared experience and great fun. Left behind is a short but often intense bonding with an individual, family or group of people, and a legacy that outlives us all."
John is a member of the Portrait Society of America, the Philadelphia Sketch Club, and the Artists of Yardley. He enjoys the camaraderie of his Bucks County artist friends and can often be found painting in their company, from live models or the landscape. John and his artist wife Jo-Ann, and their two boys live in Yardley, PA, just outside of Philadelphia.
