John Sturgess — Painter in Lower Hutt, New Zealand

John Sturgess makes paintings at home in Taita, Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Space, wild seas, flying machines and mushroom houses all find a place in his work.

This site is a growing record of John’s life and work. Browse the painting archive, look around his studio, or read about John and the experiences that have found their way into his art.

John is drawn to the power of the natural world. Waves rise around ships, lightning cuts across the sky, and aircraft pass over mountains. These subjects sit alongside his fascination with space: its distances, colours and possibilities.

There is room for smaller, stranger worlds too. A mushroom house has a face; a familiar animal appears somewhere unexpected. Some paintings are playful, others full of quiet wonder.

Stormy Sea: Waves and lightning. — Stormy Sea

Night Flight: Aircraft over mountains. — Night Flight

John’s interest in a ship or an aircraft extends to its details. Routes, dates and technical facts sometimes become part of a painting, written by hand into the picture. His travels supply other subjects, alongside places that exist only in his imagination.

The archive brings these recurring interests together. Browse paintings of Space, Nature or Transport, or see the full painting index below.

Mushroom House: Mushroom house. — Mushroom House

Ocean Queen: Ship beneath the moon. — Ocean Queen

A view up the steps inside the sculpture towards a bright, multicoloured opening. — Inside John’s tunnel sculpture.

John also makes work about experiences that are difficult to put into words. The eyes that recur in his paintings give form to a face he describes as able to see him while remaining unseen.

His large plaster sculpture models the tunnel and invisible line of his near-death experience in August 2024. Seen from within, it places the viewer at that threshold. Read John’s account and see the sculpture.

Gizmo is John’s teddy bear and lifelong companion. His full title is OBE PhD PI: professional idiot. John loves telling people this and often cracks up in the telling.

Gizmo also has a life in the paintings, with adventures of his own. Meet Gizmo

John’s home is also his studio. Paintings hang on the walls and model planes sit on the shelves. He works at a small table in the kitchen, surrounded by the things he likes to paint.

He began painting around 2012–2013, and describes a radical change in his interests. Cricket, rugby and model making had been his main pursuits; painting became central to his life. Ideas arrive while he watches television or talks in a café, and he paints what catches his attention.

In 2024, three of his works were included in The Mongoose and the Snake at Jhana Millers Gallery in Wellington. Exhibitions and biography

Allan’s photographs show John at work and at home, surrounded by his paintings and models. Visit the studio