The Walpole Artisans are proud to welcome John C. Traynor as the Featured Artist for July/August. Traynor's work is enjoyed in over one thousand private and public collections in the United States and abroad.  Corporate collectors include Passaic County College, the Paterson Historical Museum, the Ironbound Education and Cultural Center, Connecticut Bank and Trust, and Sony Music Corporation. He is a member of the Salmagundi Club of New York, Hudson Valley Art Association, National Society of Mural Painters, and the Copley Society of Boston, where he is a Copley Master.  John has received over two hundred awards of merit for his art, including the Salmagundi Club Medal of Honor and Merit, the Grumbacher Gold Medal, the Robb Sagendorph award, and the Frank Dumond Memorial Award for best light and atmospheric effect in a painting. His works of art range from 2- by 3-inch miniatures to 40- by 50-foot murals. Painting outdoors on location is a primary source of inspiration for Traynor's landscapes. Smaller paintings are finished indoors, or used as studies for larger works painted in his studio. Portraits are painted on a commissioned basis in his studio or the home of the person or persons to be portrayed. 

There will be an Artist Reception on Friday, July 27^th from 5:00-7:00pm at the Walpole Artisans Cooperative on 52 Main Street in Walpole, NH.  Please come meet the artist, view his current work, and enjoy refreshments.  His work will remain at the gallery through August 19^th, 2012.

John Traynor was born and raised in western New Jersey. He had an interest in painting at an early age. After graduating early from Delbarton High School, he pursued formal arts training at Paier College of Art in New Haven, Connecticut, and figure painting with Frank Mason at the Art Students League of New York. It was at the League that he began pursuing his career as a professional artist. Traynor continued to study landscape painting in Vermont with Mr. Mason, drawing with Carroll N. Jones Jr. of Stowe, Vermont, and sculpture for one year with Brother Jerome Cox in Florence, Italy.  John approaches all his paintings in the same way. With each he is trying to create a sense of light, space and atmosphere. 

"Being an artist means that everything I look at is analyzed by form, color, and tone. I love the randomness and spontaneity of nature; I appreciate the structure of architecture and the beauty of good design. When I paint I am relating what I see, what I'm appreciating, regardless of whether I'm painting a landscape, a still life or a portrait. I want to share what I see with the viewer, the spontaneity, the structure and the beauty of what is all around us."

Traynor currently resides with his family in southern New Hampshire where he enjoys painting rural New England scenes.

For more information, please call 603-756-3020, or visit the Cooperative. Find locally handmade Fine Art and Crafts six days a week at the Walpole Artisans Cooperative at 52 Main Street, in Walpole, NH. Hours of Operation -- Tues: 11am-2:30pm, Wed-Sat: 10am-5pm; Sun 11am-4pm. Find and Like us on Facebook; also on the web at www.walpoleartisans.org