A particular moment spent alongside a wild animal, one that stands out among so many, will usually trigger John’s inspiration to create a sculpture.

From his manoeuvrable low level vantage point in the sky, John is able to observe our world from a unique perspective. An animal in gallop is viewed from every angle; its movements, form and musculature are committed to John’s artistic memory and recreated when hands meet clay. Reflected in each sculpture is that merging of their collective instincts – John as sculptor, his subject in motion. Revealed in a moment shared, that essence and interplay between movement and behaviour, combined with John’s meticulous attention to anatomical detail, renders each of his sculptures so true to life.

John’s love of nature manifested at an early age as a young boy growing up in Zimbabwe. His lifelong fascination of wild things and wild places was cast amidst the wide open spaces of the African bushveld, with a myriad of treasures being lovingly collected and taken home to what evolved into a notable private collection. Ornithology formed the basis of this fascination, and as he grew up John’s collection of bird specimens was to become the most comprehensive of its kind at the time. John went on to win the prestigious Young Scientist Award for his significant study of the Blue Waxbill and by this time was collecting bird specimens for national museums in Zimbabwe.

Having completed 3 avian research papers, John’s attentions finally turned skyward.

In 1985, as a flying instructor and while still flying Microlights, John flew extensively over Namibia promoting the awareness and preservation of the desert Rhino and desert Elephant. In 1986, he was the first to pilot an ultra-light along the length of South Africa’s highest mountain range, the Drakensburg, up to 15 000 ft, in order to promote vulture awareness and in 1987 flew from the Namibian border, around the South African coast, to the Mozambique border, in an effort to promote marine conservation and highlight the destruction of the coastline and estuaries.

Combining a passion for aviation and conservation, John specialized in helicopters and has become one of the leading game pilots and conservationists in the country. A pioneer in helicopter capture, wildlife translocation and game census techniques since South Africa’s wildlife boom in the eighties, John has stood at the forefront of the industry and has accumulated over fourteen thousand hours of flying throughout Southern Africa.

Since the eighties John has written published articles on aviation, expeditions and conservation and writes a monthly column for the aviation magazine SAFlyer.