Johnathon Whittaker is an artist and sculptor based in Plymouth Devon, carving and creating from his workshop at home. His medium is wood and he breathes new life into fallen and discarded trees, creating art with a renewed spirit.
Johnathon grew up in Barbados, where he started his working career as both a recreational and commercial diver. It was through this, and the Caribbean beauty he grew up in, that he found his love of the ocean and nature, and it swiftly became the core of his inspiration in his carvings today.
Johnathon works instinctively, allowing each piece to describe itself; he finds the symmetry and flow hidden within the raw material, often highlighting the uniqueness of wood and its inner imperfections. Sometimes polishing to a gleaming finish, adding bursts of vibrant colour, or some pieces call for a more textured surface, he highlights the similarities in the depths of nature’s beauty.
Johnathon has been featured in multiple wood carving magazines, won several awards, been written about in newspapers and has done a number of live interviews.
His most recent celebrated work was during the pandemic, when he went on a carving marathon in an effort to thank the NHS for the hard work they have done. He created and donated plaques to NHS trusts in England and his work currently resides in 736 hospitals, ambulance services and related medical facilities across the country. For his efforts in this, Johnathon was recognised by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and declared a “Point of Light” for the United Kingdom, celebrating his exceptional carving services during the pandemic.
