Published by The Wildlife Art Gallery, Lavenham 2005
The present volume demonstrates that Busby is both an inspirational teacher and a major artist in his own right – Mark Cocker in the Times Literary Supplement
John’s paintings and drawings spanning more than half a century are accompanied by his perceptive writings. – Aubrey Art Gallery
“This book brings together drawing and paintings made over several decades. They celebrate places that have been long-standing sources of inspiration, as well as those of rare excitement, far away. Each picture takes shape in its own time, but once made, it lives on in the artist’s mind, making connections with fresh experiences. I am curious to see what emerges when they are all assembled.
Delacroix is quoted as saying to an artist friend, that though everything can be the subject for a painting, the real subject is yourself, your impressions and emotions in the presence of nature. So, everything an artist looks at is also coloured by an inner eye that seeks to relate the outward experience to the insights and feelings that prompt a work of art.
People seem to know me best as a bird artist, and birds have been a passion since childhood: their inspiration is direct and immediate. Landscape though has always been the main focus of my art: these painting probe into relationships of form and content – shape, colour, and compositional energy – to express a deeper level of thought. Similar energies lie instinctively behind the quicker bird drawings….
…So the birds come from first-hand experience; the landscapes from long acquaintance, allowing associations to take root, transforming the land, cloud and seas into metaphors for an inner state of being.
The artist’s job is to open eyes – to see what is hidden, to make connections, and to put into shapes, colours, textures and forms, thoughts that reassemble facts and feelings and catch echoes of what might be to come – above all to make something memorable and true”
From the Foreword, John Busby, July 2005
To buy a copy from us please see the Shop pages
Some of the original illustrations are available for sale : Book Illustrations