About John E. Matthews

John Ernest Matthews was born in 1940 in the Custom House area of East London, England.

 

He was surrounded by hardship and warfare from a young age. Despite showing a keen aptitude for numbers, John struggled with many subjects at school and was often left behind by an education system that did not favour young men who weren’t considered “bright.” When the bell rang, you would likely find him sitting by the docklands with paper and pencil, sketching passing boats.

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In his teenage years, John was able to explore his growing passion for art and produced several pieces that caught the attention of his teachers. Impressed by his natural ability, they sent him home with a letter recommending that he attend art school. With a future as an artist ahead of him, John proudly took the letter home to show his mother. She praised him and was proud of his work, but as a practical woman living through tough times, she had other plans. She told John he would not be attending art school. Instead, she had arranged a job for him at a local timber yard, where he would begin working at the age of 15 within the next few days.

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And so, John went to work. He eventually joined the Navy, travelling the world and developing a strong work ethic. Tenacity is at the heart of everything John does, and it could be said that these formative years were where his dogged determination first blossomed.

Having travelled extensively, John left the Navy in the early 1960s and returned to Surrey, England, to continue working as a carpenter. Around this time, he met a young woman named Mary, who had travelled from the sunny northern coasts of Ireland in search of a better life. By the 1980s, John had built a successful business, working on building projects across the South East of England.

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Mary became the centre of John’s world. In those early years together, she was his best friend, his guide, and his life partner. John attributed all of his success to his late wife, claiming he could not have achieved a fraction of it without her. A caring and intelligent woman, Mary—more often known as Lena—pushed John to be the best man he could be, both for himself and their growing family. She was his greatest inspiration, and she remains so to this day.

John and Mary lived in Surrey for their entire married lives, filling their time with family and friendships and surrounding themselves with those they loved. They lived without regrets. Yet after decades of hard work, John began to look back fondly on his early aspirations of becoming an artist. After Mary’s untimely passing, John visited her homeland of Donegal on the northern shores of Ireland, and there he found the spark he needed to rekindle his ambitions.

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In October 2024, at the age of 84, John began painting animals and simple landscapes for his great-grandchildren. He quickly found his feet and developed a skillset that impressed both family and friends. He continued painting ceaselessly, documenting the landmarks and landscapes that had formed the backdrop of many family holidays and trips across Ireland—the beaches his children had played on, the castles and bridges that shadowed their summertime strolls—each painting preserving the memory of a cherished, fading time.

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John now continues to explore the landmarks of his youth and later life, seeking inspiration in the places where nature and human endeavour intertwine.

 

John still resides in Surrey, where he is frequently visited—and lovingly pestered—by his most adoring fans: his family.

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