When someone comes into your life that fundamentally changes it, it’s often easy to overlook how much they’ve influenced you. What makes me appreciate my friend John Eagle was his kindness and generosity. We shared space at Studio 7 Gallery for 13 years, although he started it several years before I came along. We were both painters, united by our passion to express the world as we saw it.
Our group was a family, pushing each other to paint better, united by John’s business acumen and positiviity, anchored in the fact that he had burned out working as a stock-market trader and dreamed of being a painter, wandering with an easel across Europe, infatuated by the early French Impressionists. Studio 7 was the culmination of that dream. Along the way, he became Laguna Beach’s unsung Art Ambassador, showing his (incredibly affordable) work for decades at the Sawdust Festival. Unless he had other obligations, he painted almost every day.
But more importantly, he was an open book and shared so much. Some artists keep their approach to themselves, limiting what they share, because some of what we learn is difficult and possibly proprietary to our work. John was just the opposite. And what fascinated me most about the man, was what he taught me about teaching art. He almost never said something negative about anyone’s work. If he did it would come after he had found something in a painting to praise, an indication that if you try, you’ll get it. So just try.
So often we forget, or it’s difficult as time passes, to remember –how you learned something, and from whom. We often just become. And those who mentored us, whether we realize it or not often become forgotten. I’ve been fortunate to have many generous teachers and artists share their painting knowledge. I think that for me, John was more of a life coach, and his gift was the passion he had for sharing the art-life world he had created and truly enjoyed, every minute of every day.
Most artists struggle to talk about their art. Not John. He would smile, do an “Aw, shucks” kind of grin, then proceed to share an experience or insight into how he came to create the image you were enjoying. Because he built enjoyment into every painting he did. Like any artist, some were better paintings than others. But the colors and the technique he used were his alone. I could spot a John Eagle painting from across the room. Pure color and energy. Period.
One of his funniest comments was his answer to my question: how do you know when your painting is finished? Well, if you were ever lucky enough to watch him paint during Artwalk on Thursday evenings, after he had blocked in the large outlined shapes, he would start in the upper left corner, and go straight across to the top right edge, and like a typewriter, go back to the left edge and work his way across, again and again. So to answer my question, he pointed to the bottom right corner of the painting and said: when I get to here, it’s done!
Eureka! The secret of painting! But not really.
What he really did was to find his way to approach covering the canvas with paint by trying to not get too lost in the process, and solve the problems as best he can, in his first pass. Most of the time, it was a very efficient way to paint large canvases relatively quickly and not get hung up in detail or things that might become overworked. Because he allowed people to watch him paint fearlessly, they often wanted to buy what they had seen him create, on the spot. He made it look so easy he often acquired students to teach. He was a dreamer and also an extremely intelligent businessman.
My roots in Laguna Beach go back to the early 1960s, my Mom’s favorite and always for the 4th of July. I distinctly remember driving into downtown Laguna and always seeing this dude, standing in the median of Coast Highway waving at us as we passed. My mom told us: that’s the Laguna Greeter, wave to him! So we did – and he waved back. My fondest early memories of summer are of Laguna Beach, wandering from Diver’s Cove to Treasure Island and later on it’s summer art festivals.
Fast forward 30 years later (2003), my career path led me back to Laguna Beach. The Greeter had passed away, and I was looking for a gallery to show my work. Enter John Eagle, the only callback from the dozen places I’d sent work to. He offered me a home at Studio 7 and I stayed 13 years. I came to find the people of Laguna all knew John who was the city’s unofficial art ambassador, the Art Greeter. Who better to champion a town with a timeless, innocent charm, that welcomes visitors with it’s vibrant art community, historic past, beautiful canyons and coastline.
I heard that John recently passed away. His legacy will be hard to measure, especially to those who knew him well. He was a wise man who taught me that art helps us be connected. To ourselves, to others, to the world. The joy we seek in life is actually the thread, stitches and stories that connect us and give our own lives meaning. We are blessed to get to paint for others. I’m eternally grateful to Laguna Beach for so many good memories and for being the conduit that brought John into my life.
He taught me how to share, what’s valuable — and what is important. You’ve flown high John Eagle. Rest in peace.
