John Bladen art
We have recently had the pleasure of getting to know a chap called John Bladen, who produces beautiful watercolour paintings from his home on the Balearic island of Menorca.
About John Bladen
A resident of the island since 2006, John has been producing watercolours of pretty scenes on and off the island he now calls home.
As a young man, John was a keen painter. However, as so often happens with artists, he put his love of painting on the back-burner while he concentrated on earning a wage to support his growing family. After 35 years, though, he has been able to dedicate himself full time to doing what he loves most – painting the gorgeous towns and villages where he now lives, but also providing commissioned paintings for other people. He was featured in the Royal Watercolour Society: Spring Collection 2018 and is always busy supporting others while promoting his own love of art.
What resumed as a hobby later in life soon started earning him money – with people happy to pay for his existing paintings, or to commission him for something more personal. Before you ask him to paint your favourite pooch or Auntie Pat though, be aware that he strictly adheres to scenery images – the quirkier the better. He is able to do these from photographs – so don’t worry… you won’t need to fund his travel to get to your favourite spot – although I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t say “no.”
Not only does John paint commissioned works and sell prints, he also advises on perspectives, be those architectural or scenic. Although he didn’t tell us when we were chatting, we see from his Etsy page that he also produces mini acrylic artworks too.
How lovely would a print of a handpainted scene of your favourite resort look on your living room wall at home? Or how about adorning your holiday rental property with scenes from around its location? Scroll to the bottom of this page to see some of his work.
Our new art additions
We are now the proud owners of two of his limited edition (and signed) pieces. One is of our town of Vélez-Blanco (shown at the top of this article), while the other is of Marina Rubicón (showing just above here), a stunning part of Playa Blanca on Lanzarote, where we lived from 2006 until 2012.
To say that we love our new art additions is an understatement. These are so cute and pretty – and obviously the content of both is something rather special to us. John’s work is very unique. It’s detailed, it’s painstakingly painted and we feel that it really captures the heart of a place. I haven’t stopped smiling!!
We wanted to show the paintings already up on the wall above my computer. However, when I removed the existing picture I discovered that the whole wall needs painting – so we’ll be doing that before giving them pride of place in a location I can see them constantly while working.
John Bladen’s new sponsor
John is over the moon to announce his new sponsor: Canson, In John’s words, they are the “manufacturer of the world’s finest art paper” and he is thrilled to be sponsored by them.
Contact John (and buy his art)
- Etsy
Product review details
We were kindly provided with our two limited edition prints of these paintings free of charge in return for an honest review. It was a wonderful surprise because we had only selected one from his existing collection but, because he is such a bloody nice bloke… he treated us to something much more personal. Both will be treasured for a very long time. Thank you John – we love them both so much (as you may have guessed from our conversations)
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Gallery
Please note that these are merely photos of the originals… so the colour does not reflect the truly excellent quality.
Elle, along with Alan, is the owner of Spain Buddy and the busy web design business – Spain Web Design by Gandy-Draper.
Born a “Norverner”, she then spent most of her life “Dann Saff” before moving to Spain in 2006. Elle’s loves are Alan, the internet, dogs, good food, and dry white wine – although not necessarily in that order.
