John Karl Claes

I was born raised in the San Joaquin Valley of California. I began painting in high school and went to complete a B.A. at California State University, Stanislaus. I then earned a M.F.A. in painting and drawing from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Since graduating, I have received numerous awards, both regionally and nationally, I have shown my paintings and drawings regularly in many solo and group shows. I currently reside with my wife and two children in Turlock, California where I also maintain my studio.

In recent years my work has been primarily centered on California's Central Valley and the surrounding foothills. I find this landscape inspiring, and I continuously fine new visual ideas that I want to paint and draw.

I combine traditional and abstract styles. My work is not straight-forward realism. It is descriptive and nature-based and primarily formal. Each painting and drawing is completed from the demands of the work, not necessarily with accuracy to the site seen. The image created is simultaneously abstract and representational, an integrated two-dimentional pattern and an implied three-dimentional space.