JOHN Thornton has been so busy renovating his 17th century riverside house in Selby that it left little time for his painting career.

Now that his work on the house is complete, multi-skilled John – who formerly made his living working in wood – can return to his first love, picking up his brushes once more to paint North Yorkshire seascapes and woodlands. The house, one of the oldest houses in Selby and owned originally by his grandfather, is home to his studio, where he is a strongly motivated artist once more.

“When I start a painting in the morning, I have to have something to show for it at the end of the day,” he says.

The latest results of his art-and-graft policy can be seen at Kentmere House Gallery, in Scarcroft Hill, York, from April 6 to May 30 in Making Waves, his exhibition of mixed-media paintings that range in price from £350 to £2,000.

Kentmere House owner Ann Petherick says: “John Thornton’s work has been making waves since he became a full-time artist nearly ten years ago, leading to his invitation to join the Royal Society of Marine Artists in London, being awarded a prize at the Ferens Gallery in Hull, and showing in prestigious galleries across the country.”

“John brings huge energy and drive to his paintings, and water is the element which most fascinates him.”

John puts his finger on his love of the waves: “Every time you look at the sea it is different: different light, different wind speed, different weather conditions, and different movement,” he says. In the ten years that John has been exhibiting at Kentmere House Gallery, Ann has noticed how his confidence and sense of direction as a painter have grown enormously.

“John is a rare artist in that I have seldom, if ever, met anyone who doesn’t respond favourably to his work,” she adds. His mixed media includes ink, acrylic, gouache and watercolour to achieve the fluidity that he seeks, as the materials run and bleed into each other.

For his seascapes of the Whitby and Scarborough coast, these materials are combined with found items from his beachcombing, such as sand, shells and rope. For his quiet woodland scenes of Askham Bog, a nature reserve near York, and Skipwith Common, south of York, he incorporate seeds and grasses.

John was born in York in 1944, before he moved to Selby at the age of eight. He lived in Cornwall for three years during his 20s and has retained a deep affection for that county.

After five years in London in the 1970s, making leather clothing to sell in the Kings Road, he returned to Selby, where has lived and worked ever since.

For most of his professional life, he focused on working in wood: carving, renovating carousel horses and making and repairing furniture.

“Painting for me is not only about pleasure, it is a challenge to create a piece that reflects and captures the essence of a subject,” he says. “If people can sense and appreciate those aspects of my work, I feel that I have in part achieved my intention.”