John Bentham Art

John was born in Wigan in 1947 and has lived there all his life. His passion for art began when he was a young lad when he used to sketch still life and family members and friends. He wanted to portray the people and objects that made up a typical Northern home and he still has some of these original works to this day. John went into the printing trade and it wasn't until much later in life that John found his art again for several years and painted in oils for the first time, building up a fine collection of Victorian scenes, people and animals. Once more, John had a break from his art to pursue other interests. In October 2008 he returned to the grass roots of his work to create his Northern street scenes which typifies the terraced communities where he was brought up in the late fifties and sixties. This he believes was an era when there was a much greater sense of community spirit and the streets were more neighbourly and places of play for children. He uses bold colours in some of his work to represent how life felt then. In each of his paintings John includes a tribute to Jacob who is the grandson of his wife Christine. Sadly Jacob died in 2004 just 3 years old from Congenital Muscular Dystrophy. He was a tremendous little boy who had a great spirit and character and a Charity was established in his memory called
J-U-M-P.