john baran art

As a wildlife painter, I have always had the intent of using my own photos as reference material. In the beginning, that just meant a photo with an animal in the frame, in focus or not. In time, my fondness for photography grew from passion to profession. This has led to photographic excursions in Yellowstone, Alaska, Africa and French Polynesia searching for bears, wolves, elephants, lions, whales and sharks. 

 One afternoon, while swimming in from a dive, I snapped a few photos of a breaking wave. The next day I went back to the ocean in search of waves, and another passion was born. Having grown up in and around the ocean along the California coast, the addition of wave and surf photography was an easy one.  

I have often said, “Mother Nature makes the art, I try to find it.” Being a painter and photographer of many subjects means there is always something for me to paint or shoot. Telling stories with my photos and art is important to me. I want to open people’s eyes to the beauty of the natural world, and in turn make them want to protect and persevere it.  

Please visit johnbaranfineart.com to see my more original wildlife and abstract paintings.