02 Jun 2024 Artist of the Month: John Lightfoot

By KD Reep

We are all born with a calling, but only some of us pursue what that is. For John Lightfoot, he was called to create, and now the Conway resident is pursuing it as a career as an art teacher and artist.

An art instructor at Pottsville Middle and Junior High schools, Lightfoot began teaching in October 2022 and is finishing a Master of Arts in teaching from the University of Central Arkansas.

“I’m originally from South Arkansas and graduated from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, and over the years, I’ve done a little bit of everything and ended up being in teaching roles. I’ve always wanted to be able to help others.”

Lightfoot did not realize he could make a living as an artist, but he has been providing for himself and his family for three years doing just that.

“Earlier, when I was a kid, I wished I could have made a living with art,” he explained. “Once I became an artist, I realized that even here in Arkansas, I could make a living just doing art. I wish somebody would have told me this when I was in high school. I get to help kids at Pottsville Junior High and Middle School do that, helping them see that you can be successful in a lot of ways that people don’t think about.”

He works every school day to teach how creativity and creative solutions allow people to be flexible and understand where another person may be coming from. “Creativity helps everywhere,” he said.

His father was a painter, rendering images of the ocean and ships on canvas and as scale models, and was fascinated by architecture and sketched. Lightfoot said he did not know his father was an artist until his passing and he discovered paintings with his father’s name on them. His grandmother also was a painter, with her work adorning her home.

“I like to paint ships and the ocean and water,” Lightfoot said. “We were always on the lake and had boats, but I never realized until later that my dad also painted these things just like I did. I asked my mom about it, and she said, ‘I guess we never really talked about that.’”

Lightfoot works in oils and watercolors mostly, with a few acrylic pieces in the mix. His paintings are vibrant with color and detail, and his work has been displayed at Central ARCollective in downtown Conway. Among his awards are the People’s Choice award at the “Neighbors, An Art Show” at the Brick Room in downtown Conway, as well as placing in county and state fairs. He also had a painting displayed at the Lake Dardanelle State Park Visitor Center. What guides his art is an abiding Christian faith and the beauty of Arkansas and more art can be seen on Facebook at John Lightfoot Art.

“I’m a Christian, and that influences basically everything,” he said. “God himself is an artist, and there is evidence that he has given just in the very nature that’s around us. For me, everything I paint somehow points back to him, and I take inspiration from everything.”

One painting in particular portrays Lightfoot’s interpretation of what it is like to be a Christian man.

“In my men’s Bible study, we were having a conversation about the trials of being a Christian man and always having to be on guard. I thought of this in terms of a knight in shining armor, but he’s resting. The idea that as we go through life, you can’t take the armor off, and you have to always be prepared because you’re trying to provide for your family and deal with everything you face,” Lightfoot said. “We have sin in our lives, and sometimes we have people actively coming at us. It’d be easy to give up and just go with the easy way out, but we have to stand our ground and stay armored up. This painting is about facing our fears and our problems and standing up for what it means to be a man. I wanted to represent that in this painting.

“We also live in a beautiful state so a lot of times we’re out hiking, and I take inspiration from places, whether it be swimming at the Buffalo River, canoeing or being at the beach. I also paint a lot of sunrises and sunsets, which, you know, have a lot of meaning. They represent to me a new day, new life, how we get a second chance over and over again and God’s grace. And so I love painting those just because it reminds me what He’s done for us.”