A number of customers, patrons and galleries have kindly provided testimony about their experiences of having purchased and commissioned work from John.
‘Valda’, Grey Mare
Ms. S. commissioned a painting of her sadly, long-since deceased grey mare Valda as a gift to herself.
Valda was painted in the watercolour medium gouache, using the client’s own photograph.
The picture had a degree of fading due to its age. I did some adjustments in photoshop and below is the original photo alongside the finished painting.
Upon seeing the finished scan of the picture before delivery the client said :
“The painting is lovely! Really lovely. I am really impressed! Thank you for sending the scan.”
Ms. S.
and upon delivery …
“Thank you for the good handover last week. It was lovely to meet you and I am thrilled with the picture of Valda. It’s so lovely to ‘see’ her again.”
Ms. S.
This picture is available from the gallery shop
‘The House in the Clouds, Thorpeness‘
Mrs B., one of my most recent customers of November 2020, purchased a print of this wonderfully bright and breezy painting from 1995.
“Dear John, the print I ordered has arrived today in excellent condition. I appreciate all the trouble you have gone to regarding the packaging and also the Certificate of Authenticity & the free card.
The print is a gift for my husband and I am sure he will be delighted when he opens it on Christmas day.”
Mrs. B
This picture is available from the gallery shop
‘Tabatha – Study III’, Tabby cat pet portrait
Gerd Müller, one of my most recent customers, purchased two prints of this beautifully detailed third study of Tabatha, in April 2020.
“Dear John, my two prints have arrived safely. I am delighted with the quality of the prints and look forward to putting in another order for a large size print for my wall.
Thank you for the excellent product and service.”
Gerd Müller
This picture is available from the gallery shop
‘Fishing Boat, Study I’, Aldeburgh, Suffolk
Fritz a customer from Niagara Falls, USA ordered this print from me in May 2020.
“I ordered a print of this awesome painting and received it today. Thanks, it’s perfect; beautiful ! I’m going to frame it real nice.”
Fritz Proctor III
This picture is available from the gallery/shop
‘Gina’, grey mare
Trevor commissioned me to paint this picture for his then fiancee Claire in December 2016.
“I cannot put into words how pleased we are with the portrait of Gina. My fiancee Claire, bred Gina from her first horse Ginny 26 years ago, and Gina has been a faithful friend ever since. I was struggling to come up with a Christmas/Birthday present idea for Claire, when I discovered John’s work. We already have a few very “amateur” paintings of Gina, but I decided the time was right to get a proper artist to try and capture an image – as Gina is very much in her “autumn years”.
John has perfectly captured not only the image of Gina, but also the peaceful nature of her personality, Claire was in tears on delivery of the finished piece of work (in a good way).
The painting has been promoted from its original place of display (on the stairs) to pride of place in the living room. Thanks again John.”
Trevor Pope
This picture is available from the gallery/shop
‘St. Luke’s church, Cannock’
Gemma Sharman, one of my most recent customers, purchased a print of this highly detailed painting of St. Luke’s Church which was commissioned in 2015 to celebrate the church’s 900th Anniversary
“Dear Mr Twinning, I received the print yesterday, it’s really lovely. I have bought this for my elderly grandad who lives with us in Lincoln, having moved from Cannock last year. The church has a lot of history with nan and grandad, mum, dad, aunty & uncles marriages, christenings and funerals. It’s a beautiful painting, I’m so pleased I found it. Many thanks again, Gemma Sharman.”
Gemma Sharman
This picture is available from the gallery shop
‘Peggy’, Chocolate Labrador
David J. Hodgkiss, one of my most recent customers, commissioned this lovely portrait of one of his dogs which has been appreciated both by Dave and all those who have seen it.
“I recently received the finished painting of Peggy, my Labrador dog. I have to say I was overjoyed and very pleased with the finished work; particularly the fine detail and expertise involved in producing the piece. I would recommend John to anyone who wishes to commission a painting or drawing. He is a very talented painter. Many thanks
Dave Hodgkiss
This picture is available from the gallery shop
‘The Queen’s College’, Oxford
Victor Segal commissioned a series of paintings and pencil drawings of his Oxford College and writes….
“I first came across the work of John Twinning in 1997 at the Singer Friedlander/ Sunday Times Watercolour Competition exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. On the strength of seeing this piece, I decided to commission John to produce a series of paintings and pencil drawings of my old college, The Queen’s College, Oxford.
I was greatly impressed with the results: John’s mastery of detail, colour, light and shade is exemplary. I decided to help John with the production of a series of Limited Edition prints of the works which were sold and are still selling via the College. I am delighted to have the originals adorning my study walls.
I am pleased to recommend John Twinning as an artist of the highest calibre who displays a standard of draughtsmanship rarely bettered.”
Victor Segal
This picture is available from the gallery shop
‘Lee Abbey’, Devon
Rita Ashman has purchased a number of prints from me including this one, from a series of Lee Abbey drawings…
“Thank you, John, for your prompt response to my recent order for your detailed drawing of the front of ‘Lee Abbey’. Your attention to detail is breathtakingly brilliant! It looks perfect alongside the other drawings that I purchased from you previously. I look forward to adding to my ‘John Twinning’ gallery in the not too distant future!”
Rita Ashman
This picture is available from the gallery shop
‘St. Philip’s cathedral’, Birmingham
David Gilbert, Director of the Driffold Gallery in Sutton Coldfield sold this magnificent example of John’s work….
“The gallery has shown and sold original works by John for a quarter of a century. The meticulous technique and the integrity of his imagery is totally winning: shown to perfection in his ‘St Philip’s Cathedral from New Cannon Passage’. I was thrilled to pass this painting on a few years back to a Birmingham emigrant to Australia who could not resist its appeal.”
David Gilbert
This picture is available from the gallery shop
‘Reflections of Holywell’
The late Joe Newell commented on this commission; which was the second of two paintings I completed for him….
“I first became aware of the superb artwork of John Twinning when I received a card of his painting of the old Bridge in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire for my 87th birthday. I was so pleased and impressed with what I saw in the image on that card that I decided more or less immediately that I would like to commission John to paint two pictures of my home village of Holywell in Cambridgeshire. With the help of a computer-literate relative, I looked John up, found his website and made contact.
After initial telephone discussions and written exchanges I met with John and we agreed that he would produce one picture of the much-loved Holywell Parish church and one of the beautiful thatched cottages of Holywell Front; one of which was where I spent my early school days. I am absolutely thrilled with the two paintings and have been pleasantly surprised to always be able to find one or two new details in each of them whenever I view them. I would be more than happy to recommend John to anyone as an accomplished artist of considerable talent.”
Josiah Newell