John Simon Weecks
John is a commercial artist residing in the Phoenix, Arizona area. John’s interests include Woodcarving, Book Illustration, and Furniture Builds as well as taking on Special Corporate Projects.
Formative Years
John was born in a small Alpine village in Austria. At age seven, John and his family moved to France where he spent much of his formative years absorbing the culture of the Parisians. From these early experiences of touring the galleries and museums of Paris and Versailles, he developed an interest in the arts as a profession. Later, during his military service with the U.S. Navy, he was assigned to a construction battalion (Seabees) and received orders for Viet Nam, but subsequently redirected to McMurdo Station in the Antarctic in support of scientific research. While in the military, he began his informal art training with a correspondence course from Famous Artist School, (then headed by Noman Rockwell) based in Westport, CT. John later attended Paier College of Art in New Haven for four years, where he studied Book Illustration, Advertising, Photography and Design. During his fourth year at Paier, John received an honorable mention in the DeBeer’s diamond Jewelry competition for men in NYC, sponsored by DeBeers diamond corporation. After graduating art school, John began working as an Art Director for NBC, where he produced, directed, and hosted “The Art Corner”, for a midday entertainment show. His other duties at NBC included designing and building sets, wall-graphics, news story slides and displays for the station advertising needs, as well as managing guest services to visiting TV and Movie personalities.
Professional History
During his time at NBC, John also painted landscapes and still-Lifes and was represented by The Texas Art Gallery in Dallas, Texas. For several years, he taught art classes at the Temple Cultural Activities Center in Temple, Texas and served as president for the Bell Fine Arts group in Belton, as well as working as a free-lance courtroom sketch artist for TV news stations in the central Texas area. He later moved to Connecticut and worked in and around New York City, where he illustrated books, designed and carved waxes for Michael Anthony Jewelry Co., Seiden-Gang, and the Joan Boyce Jewelry Boutique.
John restored antique toys and collectables as well as museum quality furniture for galleries in Manhattan and Connecticut.
He was the first place recipient in the Circa da Vinci outdoor landscape Plein-air painting competition in Westchester, NY for three consecutive years. He was Co-recipient of the New Jersey art Director’s Club award for two paintings in a ten-painting series; Red Badge of Courage and Tale of Two Cities. He has received numerous awards in miniature paintings and special recognition for his depiction of historical-building paintings of Peoria, Arizona. His illustrations have appeared in publications such as Colliers, McMillan, Riverside Publishing, Dutton and Random House.