About Jack

 

Hi my name is Jack McCalla and welcome to my online gallery (sorry to those who are looking for Irish McCalla's art).

I have been painting for 38 years and have been drawing all my life (probably why my grades weren't so good). I started painting when I was 15 years old. My aunt hurt her back and offered to teach me how to oil paint if I would help her move her furniture, I accepted. Her name was Irish McCalla, a well known southwest woman’s artist and the original Sheena 'Queen of the Jungle'. I painted on and off with her throughout the rest of her life learning many techniques. Our styles are similar, eerily so sometimes. Like her, my favorites are seascapes and southwest art .

I was able to continue oil painting until my kids were old enough to get into my paints. At that time I decided to focus on doing pen & ink. Influenced by another family artist, Tom Howard, I started doing drawings of homes in my family history. In fact, I totally ripped off Tom's style of pen & ink cross hatching. Also, influenced by Tom, was the practice of using those pen & ink drawings to make our family Christmas card and greeting cards. Starting in 1989, it has become a yearly tradition that is well received.

I work full time as an engineer for a major aerospace company in Southern California. Besides my interest in art I do woodworking, making furniture, and home improvements. Along with my wife, I enjoy camping, geocaching, and traveling.

As an artist, I like to display my works, but I feel art galleries are to restrictive, and the internet has provided me with an opportunity to show and share my artwork with people all over the world (it also helps that my son Dan can help me create a web page on the internet).

I have sold numerous paintings over the years and some originals are always for sale. And to that end, I am using this site to share my work with the world. Beyond that I am providing you with an opportunity to express your interest in any of the original works. In the future, with interest, signed and numbered prints, and printed card sets could become available.