User:JohnDowlingJr/sandbox
John Dowling Jr. (A.K.A. John Joseph Dowling Jr.) is a fine artist, photojournalist, producer, director, and writer who has been writing and taking photographs most of his life. Originally, he was very private about his writing, but he began sharing his stories with others over time. John loves creating, and has often been told that he truly has the "heart and mind of an artist." Although John is a fine artist, he can use both the left and right sides of his brain.
John started working with computers in seventh grade. He was one of the first in his circle of friends to own a personal computer. John would go on to produce and direct feature films, photograph national ad campaigns, as well as, design database-driven analytical software, and architect futuristic secure social media network platforms. John has often confided to others that his brain simply does not have an "OFF" switch.
John was born at Saint John's Hospital in Queens, New York. He was premature and weighed in at only four pounds, fourteen ounces. Due to his parent's lower income status, the hospital did not provide John with optimal care, or even, an incubator. Although now six foot one, John was one of the smallest in his class through junior high school. At that point, he began to grow at the rate of six to nine inches per year. As a toddler, despite his diminutive size, he quickly became the object of many model agent's praise due to his nearly pure white hair and brilliant blue eyes. As a teenager John, would pursue fitness modeling opportunities but his shyness prevented him from becoming a full-time model.
John has two sisters, his older sister Christine and his younger sister Joan, as well as two nephews, and three nieces. John has two children now young adults John and Emily. He loves his family dearly and is very family-oriented. John's father was a carpenter and professional ironman. He was taken early in life at the age of sixty-two due to cancer. Johns' father built fine furniture, remodeled houses, and was a general contractor. John often found sanctuary for his creative passions in building and carving with his father, spending much of his time in his father's woodworking shop. During his early days, at Newbridge Road Elementary School, John was the main contributor to a life-size mural, which graced the hallways to this day. John appeared in many of the school's seasonal and class plays, later going on to sing in the chorus for three years and perform several solos in junior high school until sports became the object of John's passion.
John has often commented that he knows what it is like to work as part of a team and considers himself a team player. He wrestled for six years, from seventh grade through twelfth grade, and for a few months through his first year of college. John participated in four varsity sports in his senior year of high school earning him an award given to only eight students from his graduating class. And yes, John is quite proud of that accomplishment. John also enjoyed running with his "ultra-marathon Iron Man father" who founded the Long Island Road Runners Club. John and his father often ran upwards of six miles per day, in and around Eisenhower Park as well as in hundreds of road races and several marathons. John held the record for the 220-meter relay, along with his high school teammates, for well over ten years. He ran his best mile in four minutes, fifty-nine seconds in one of his father's Sunday races at Eisenhower Park.
John was an exceptional student when he applied himself. Even with his focus being on sports he received an honors diploma and graduated in the top ten percent of his class. Although he did not know it at the time, he has severe dyslexia, which made it nearly impossible to read long chapters or novels. His almost photographic memory allowed him to succeed in school despite the significant challenges he had in reading. To this day John has never read a single novel, even though he writes them ChaptersOfLove.net. He has however read millions of pages of technical data and tech manuals. Once John acquired his first computer he developed the ability to read and type nearly as fast as he could think and considers the computer and camera as an extension of his brain.
John was raised in East Meadow and although he moved to Centerport, considered Long Island's "Gold Coast" he often speaks fondly of his hometown, its educational system, and the camaraderie amongst his classmates that he to this day. It was during his time in high school that John started dating a graduate who was attending college. It was of her that John took his first set of semi-professional photographs. Seeing those photographs, John's older cousin Michael began to commission him for stock photography and modeling projects for Corbis Stock Market. Within a year of graduating from high school, Corbis Stock Market began representing John Dowling the "Photographer." By the time he was twenty-one, Johns' photographs were appearing on magazine covers, including several covers of the then very popular, Long Island Nightlife Magazine, and in international advertising campaigns for Fortune 500 companies.
John became a professional photographer upon his enrollment in Nassau County Community College. There he studied courses in law, accounting, statistics, art, and engineering. As his photographs started to appear in more and more magazines, the largest modeling agencies in the world started seeking John out. Many commented on his, uncanny ability, to use natural light to capture stunning images. John decided to take a break from obtaining his degree and pursue his dream of living and working in and around the arts. He moved to SOHO, to work as a full-time Editorial and Fashion Photographer. Over the years, John worked for the likes of Calvin Klein, Henry Grethel, Tommy Hilfiger, and countless other fashion designers. He often jokes that after over twenty million photographs, who can keep track of who uses them, and for what.
As a result of introductions to other photographers through his association with Corbis Stock Market (Then referred to as simply the Stock Market), John was asked to model mainly for sports and fitness interests. John learned many of the lighting techniques of such master photographers as Ken Haak, Richard Scavulo, and countless others. John also appeared in GQ, Men's Guide To Fitness, Exercise Magazine, Sports Scene, and various sports and other fashioned themed magazines as a model. He would offer refer to modeling aspect as a means to learn from the masters, was his motivation to get in front of the camera. Johns' heart was always more comfortable behind the camera then in front of it. It was not long after John moved to the city that he upgraded from his SOHO apartment to a Penthouse Duplex on 81st Street, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. There he operated his photo studio during the day. At night, he bartended and managed "the VIP list" at the Palladium. John worked as a waiter and bartender on Long Island for many years prior, to support his photography aspirations.
The Palladium was the largest and most popular night club in the world. They regularly hosted parties for celebrities. After their performances, John would sometimes bartend for them or even join them as a guest. John was a guest at the first ever MTV Music Awards and many other celebrity hosted parties. After a year of living in the "fast lane", John resigned from the Palladium and became the National Account Manager for New York Film Works, a notable professional photo finishing and film processing laboratory. It was at New York Film Works that John interacted with the world's top ad agencies and photo studios in . John learned every aspect of the traditional darkroom in the off hours and eventually became a master of most every darkroom technique. Although John held both creative and technical positions, John is embracing writing more and more.
John was diagnosed in his early twenties with several genetic mutations that affect his body's ability to metabolize certain fats, commonly known as Lipids, cholesterol, and triglycerides. The medical community was baffled as to how he could survive. In ways that John could not at the time know, walking with cameras upwards of ten miles daily allowed John to grow new arteries and survive where the mutations were destroying them. That and advanced medical technologies gave John a future he was never meant to have organically. However, it was not without enduring a great deal of pain through the years. John owes his life to the incredible surgeons such as Dr. Pad, Dr. Richard Shlofmitz, Dr. Richard Mattano, and most recently Dr. Jeffery Moses, who in 2013 opened two 4-inch,100% blocked, arteries in John's heart after ten years of failed attempts. John also credits his primary care physician, Dr. Beklis, who relentlessly and passionately ordered test after test and discovered that John had several other diseases and injuries that were masked by the excruciating pain from Intermittent claudication.
While John credits the surgeons with making him the "bionic man" he often refers to his family and children as his inspiration. Their love motivated him to walk through the pain and grow new arteries when the procedures and surgeries failed to do so. John was married to his former wife Stephanie. They brought two children into the world, John and Emily.
Although John is an extremely conservative father, he is a non-conservative person in general. Despite his traditional and conservative foundation, John often writes about the incredible chapters of love he shared with so many beautiful women. John never expected to publish, or even share," Chapters Of Love," prior to his departure from this world. However, in 2016, after sharing a few chapters with close friends and receiving tremendous enthusiasm, John decided to update the manuscript and complete his novel. "Chapters Of Love" will be available for digital download in both Hard Cover and paperback in March of 2017.
John's obsessive love for photography and writing has afforded him the opportunity to create with, and collaborate with, thousands of successful models and actors from around the world. John's talent and drive have taken him to many different areas of the world and provided him with more "Chapters of Love" than he could ever have imagined. John has photographed, interviewed, directed, and written stories for and with, mostly as a ghostwriter, a plethora of major celebrities and dignitaries including:
Billy Joel, Neyo, Taylor Swift, PSY, Bette Midler, Alec Baldwin, F. Murray Abraham, Bon Jovi, Muhammad Ali, Modern English, Martin Short, Jill Nicolini, Melissa Baker, Willie Nelson, Ashley Massaro, Melissa Etheridge, Chris Angel, Woodie Harrelson, Deborah Gibson, Matt McCoy, Christa B. Allan, Hunter Gomez, Jane Sibbett, Anne Ramsay, Carol Alt, Ashle Dawson, Alan Zweibel, Patty Duke, Rex Allan Jr., Kristen & The Noise, John Leguzamo, Southside Johny and the Asbury Jukes, Matthew Walton, Meatloaf, Pat Obrian, Catya Sassoon, Adam Ferrara, MC Hammer, Donald Trump, Alicia Keys, Pater O'brian, Aubrey Oday, Carmen Electra, Ivanka Trump, Charles Wang, Clark Gillies, Jessica Lundy, Toderick Hall, Scott Adsit, Rachel Dratch, Mario Cantone, Ittai Shapira, The knights Orchestra, Val Kilmer, Stephen Dorph, Jackie Martling, Bernadette Peters, Eddie Money, Daryl Hanna, Mathew Johnson, Anita Baker, Jenny McCarthy, Lionel Richie, Lou Gramm, James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, FireFlight, Angelo Fraboni, Steve Schirippa, Toni Spinelli, Federico Castelucio, Ashley Tisdale, Tim Minchin, Sharon Durig, Liza Minelli, Gary Coutier, Mayor Julianni, Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, Elliot Spitzer, Dee Snider, Connie Ha, Candice Bergen, Timothy Hutton, Casey Casum, Sara Conca, Dennis Rodman, Lauren Jones, Chazz Palminteri, Ted Lange, Hector Elizondo, Stephen Baldwin, Chris Berman, Margie Swearingen Hammer, Sergio Garcia, Ralph Machio, Bobby Nystrom, Vic Latino, Wesley Walker, Raja Bell, The Wallflowers, Phil Micholson, John Forsythe , Kim Karfashian, Katie Lee Joel, Steve Gutenberg, Charles Dolan, Joe Perry, Jackie Tohn, Allyn Rose, Governor Carey, Richard Greico, Kevin Brown a.k.a. Dot Com, Martha Stewart, Kris Kristopherson, Vinny Vella, Mark Linn Baker, Tiger Woods, Kiera Chaplin, O'Neal McKnight, Robert Celestino , Andy Warhol, Vidal Sassoon, Carson Daly , Mario Lopez, Courtney Lopez, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kelly Lebroc, Allison Hangendorf , Larry Hoff, Ryan Seacrest.
In 2018 after open heart surgery, a second bypass on John's right leg, and the clearing of John artery to his brain, he had over 75 stents in his body and was constantly in pain and on very strong opiads for over 7 years. In order to get off the pain killers he used Art Therapy to deal with the pain and withdrawals. He created over 800 pieces of art that in his first exhibition he won Artexpo New York Spotlight Artist Recipient Dowling award
Dowling was also featured in LongIsland.com the most visited site on Long Island for his art with Rick Friedman – Hamptons Fine Art Fair founder and executive director – is known for being incredibly picky about whom he lends his endorsements to; however, to illustrate the high esteem that Dowling commands within art circles, Friedman has expressed that he is especially enamored of Dowling's work, referring to him is a "master" of his unique style.
"He's a master colorist, whose abstractions are at the same time inviting, enticing, and playful while being energetic and invigorating," he said. "These powerful pieces certainly hold the wall."
A native Long Islander his entire life, John Dowling has lived and worked throughout the United States and abroad since the late 90’s making NYC, Naples Florida, NC, CA, AZ, Paris, Switzerland, and Venice his temporary home at times. He received his “formal” education from the great master photographers of the 80’s and from managing and printing for one of the largest film and production labs in the world.
He exhibits bright light and vivid colors as an emotional force while depicting abstract and scotomisaic experiences. Dowling paints and draws in true impressionistic style with clear cubanistic influences. His abstract imagery is among his best-selling work, as well as some of his most passionate creations. His enthusiasm for faces and the human figure is strongly evident in all of his vivid masterpieces and timeless imaginary. Especially in his MIracle In the Making Collections.
John Dowlings familiar and popular drawings and acrylic paintings continue to enchant and inspire his collectors worldwide. His art is most noted for its power to evoke emotions, the opulence of light, and distinctive color harmonies. His love of the human figure and abstract imagery is fully displayed in his new paintings that glow with hints of colored phosphorus which lets the viewer enjoy the abstract patterns in the pieces at night in a variety of colors as well as the day “colors” illuminating the artworks.
Dowling aspires to open the non-profit Museum “The Long Island Contemporary Art Museum” and donates half of the sales from premium pieces to fund the museum and Art Therapy For The Long Island Contemporary Art’s a charity that promotes and educates those in need of art therapy which Dowling has credited in saving his own life.
John lives in gratitude, pays it forward, and cherishes every chapter of love. He is single and has stayed that way for some time, believing it to be unfair to marry again with his health constantly a roller coaster. However, now that his heart and body have healed, and he is stronger than he has been most of his adult life, John is looking for love. John shares from his heart and his "Chapters Of Love" novel is a true miracle story with graphic detail within its chapters.
When John is asked if his stories are true his reply is always the same reply, "Fact? Fiction? Or Fantasy? I will never tell! Ever!" John believes deeply that "Love is the only thing we take with us when we leave this world, and the only thing we leave behind."