John is a descendant of early Utah pioneers who settled in Utah valley in the early 1850's.  His great grandfathers accompanied handcart and wagon trains to Utah valley and helped organize and establish the fist communities.  He grew up hiking the trails and fishing the streams of the Wasatch Mountains that tower above the valley floor.  He has always had an interest in Native American people and admired their reverence and the respect they have for the land that sustains them. 

John attended Snow College in Ephraim, Utah on a art scholarship and later earned his bachelor of science in fishery biology with a minor in art from Utah State University.   He then studied in the master of fine arts program at Brigham Young University.   During his college years he sold his first painting in a student art show that led to further sells while still a student.  So he decided to drop out of school and pursue a full time career as an artist and has been doing so for the last 40 years. 

John's paintings of landscapes and figures scenes bear a stylistic kinship with the realist painters of the 20th century.  After working in several mediums he found that gouache gives him "tighter control and the ability to fine-tune his design and refine the subtle colors."  According to one reviewer, John presents a "cultural authenticity, reflecting settings, clothing and artifacts of the American Indians who lived in the second half of the 19th century."

John was invited to become a member of the Cowboy Arts of America in 2011.  He resides with his wife Kristy and his four children in Pleasant Grove, Utah.