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John Pettifor is an artist, illustrator and animator based in East Sussex.  He has been part of the Brighton Festival’s Artists Open Houses for 4 years.  John was a Design Engineer and part time Artist for several years before given up his engineering job to concentrate full time on his artwork, commercial illustrations and animations.

He sells his originals, prints on paper and canvas, calendars and greeting cards through the website and from many retailers nationwide.  His designs are used by Larkrise Designs for cool gifts such as magnets, clocks, key racks and key rings in wacky designs, Oriental Ceramics for glassware, Norfolk China for mugs, ceramic magnets and tiles.

Whether it’s nostalgia or the sense of style that is associated with many of the iconic images that John creates, the public appeal and demand continues to grow.  The Split Screen and Bay Campervans, Beetle and Mini images are the most successful part of the Calamity Creations art range and this may be down to the freedom and lifestyle these classic vehicles represent. It’s difficult to define the market; the artwork appeal to children, teens, surfers, enthusiasts but also to lots of other people as well.   It seems that so many of our customers have owned, or dream of owning a camper, beetle or mini. 

Many of the Calamity images have quirky names and a story to tell, they make people smile - "What is that Camper doing on an iceburg?", "How did it get to that desert island?".  We find that people stop to look and chat at shows even if they don't buy immediately.  We have heard so many stores about travels across Europe, Africa and other parts of the world, first family holidays, honeymoons and loads more...

Note from the artist:

"I studied art to ‘A’ Level but only rediscovered my passion for art 10 years ago whilst travelling around Central and South America for 4 months. It all started with a sketch pad and pencils; capturing the scenery, archaeological sight, lifestyle of the local people and unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands.  I have continued sketching throughout my travels to India, New Zealand, Thailand, Australia, the Middle East and further trips to South America."

"The media I have been developing is a mixture of 3D digital & watercolour. I like to mix my design skills to create realistic but artistic images."