BIOGRAPHY FOR JOHN KIKER

John Kiker was born in the small ranching community of Elida in eastern New Mexico.  Growing up on a dairy farm, there were not many opportunities to develop an appreciation for the arts.  It was not until his senior year in medical school that he began painting.  He quickly realized that he had an aptitude and began to develop his abilities.  His desire and commitment was to one day evolve into a painter like the artists whose works he collected. 

He continued to paint throughout his medical residency. In 1983, he moved to Roswell and began his urology practice.  For many years, painting took a back burner to his medical career.  Ten years ago, he began painting seriously again.  He now has dual careers—medicine during the week and painting on weekends, evenings and whenever he can steal away.  John and his wife, Reita, and their Shih Tzu, Cocoa, moved from Roswell to the Hondo Valley in the summer of 2006.  There they have designed and built a beautiful studio and gallery. 

John’s love of old adobes with winding roads and historic churches nestled into the countryside of picturesque New Mexico are often the subjects in his colorful impressionistic oil paintings.  Living full-time in the beautiful Hondo Valley has given him an unlimited number of subjects for his plein air paintings.

Several years ago John met renowned landscape artist Irby Brown of Santa Fe.  He became not only a mentor to John but also a very good friend.  John has studied with Michael Lynch.  He has also been influenced by the art of Walt Gonske, Nicolai Fechin and Edgar Payne.  His paintings hang in the collections of banks, offices and homes throughout the United States.

Although John still commutes the one hundred miles round trip everyday to Roswell for his urology practice, he hopes in the near future to retire from medicine and devote as much time and passion to his art career as he did to medicine.

jkikergallery@yahoo.com
www.jkikergallery.com