John Simon Weecks
John is a commercial artist residing in Phoenix, Arizona. John’s interests include Woodcarving, Book Illustration, making display stands, Custom Furniture Designing & Building, and Antique Restoration.
Formative Years
Born in Turnau, Austria, John spent much of his formative years living in Paris, where he was surrounded by beautiful works of art and sculpture. From these early experiences of touring the galleries and museums of Paris and Versailles, he developed an interest in the arts as a profession. During his military service in the U.S. Navy, he was assigned to a construction battalion (Seabees) and received orders to Viet Nam, then alternately to the Antarctic in support of scientific research community instead. While in the service, he began receiving his informal art training with a correspondence course from Famous Artist School, (then headed by Noman Rockwell) based in Westport, CT. He later attended Paier College of Art in New Haven, where his fields of studies included 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 diomond corporation. After graduating art school, John began working as an Art Director for NBC, where he produced, directed, and hosted “The Art Corner”, for the midday entertainment show. His other duties 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 personalities.
Professional History
During his time period at NBC, John also painted landscapes and still-lifes and landscapes, and 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 and worked in and around New York City, where he illustrated books, designed and carved waxes for the jewelry industry for companies such as Michael Anthony Jewelry Co., Seiden-Gang, and Joan Boyce Jewelry. With training from master restorer Jim Dworkin, John restored antique toys and collectables as well as museum quality furniture for galleries in Manhattan and Connecticut. In the arts, 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.