JOHN WILTSHIRE CV
Born in Pembury, Kent 13/12/1969
My paintings often relate to natural history and observation, communicated through paint, this has
preoccupied me for over 35 years. There's value and opportunity in differences so observation is a vital part
of human behaviour, we observe because we have evolved to survive as hunter gatherers. I'm interested
that we carry this with us; we notice things but don't necessarily apply it as directed by our evolution.
Perhaps opportunity functions differently in contemporary life but our behaviour still presents difference as
opportunity. In my painting practice it is these observed differences which connect my works. Whether
something in the landscape, a face or in objects, we notice differences and they shape us as individuals,
becoming our interests and a part of our identity.
Prizes and Awards
2019 John Purcell Paper Prize, 207th RI
2013 44th Eastern Open Curators Choice Award, Kate Farrell, The Lowry, Salford
2007 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 1st Prize, RWS 21st Century Watercolour
2006 Daler Rowney 1st Prize, RWS 21st Century Watercolour
1992 Drawing Prize, KIAD Canterbury Art College.
Collections
Swiss Re Collection
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Rye Art Gallery
Cambridge City Council
Cambridge Borough Council
Heritage Education Trust, Holdenby House, Northampton
The Leys School, Cambridge
Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery, Kent
Kent & Sussex Courier Newspapers Group, Kent
Education
1992 BA(Hons) Fine Art, Painting
1989 B/TECH National Diploma in Art & Design
1995 City & Guilds 7307 Further & Adult Education Teaching Certificate
Exhibiting 2025
Bayliss & Co, Tenterden, Kent
Pococks, Burnham Market, Norfolk from 2010-present
Byard Art, King’s Parade, Cambridge from 2010-22
Lilford Gallery, Palace Street, Canterbury, Kent
Exhibiting history
Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy, Wales
AKA Fine Art, Cambridge
The Discerning Eye, Mall Gallery, London
RA Summer Show, Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly, London
Royal Watercolour Society Contemporary Watercolour, Bankside Gallery, London
Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, Mall Gallery, London
Edward Burra & Friends, B is for Burra, Rye Art Gallery, East Sussex
Adrian Hill Fine Art, The Gallery, Lees Yard, Holt, Norfolk
Lilford Gallery, Palace Street, Canterbury, Kent
Francis Iles Gallery, High Street, Rochester, Kent
Kent Collects, Folkestone Museum, Folkestone, Kent
Opem 3, The Collection & Usher Gallery, Dane's Terrace, Lincoln
Cambridge University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge
Brink, Brew, Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent
Habitat, McGillan & Woodell, Ramsgate, Kent
Afternoon Tea, York Mansions, Margate, Kent
Awakenings, Conquest House Gallery, 17 Palace Street, Canterbury, Kent
31 Portraits, Creek Creative, Abbey Street, Faversham, Kent
Works on Paper Art Fair, Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London
A Husk of Hares, Arts Council & Babylon Gallery Touring Exhibition, East Anglia
44th Eastern Open, Kings Lynn Art Centre, Kings Lynn, Norfolk
13 Artists from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Babylon Gallery, Ely
Space 4 Gallery, Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery, Peterborough
KSF Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, Mall Gallery, London, Manchester Town Hall, Manchester
Six Clifton Street, Prestonville Trail Open Houses, Brighton Festival Fringe, Brighton
The Small Hours, Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery, Tunbridge Wells, Kent