John Iwerks was raised by a Disney employee, co-founded the Oak Group, and has done many projects with wife and fellow artist Chris Chapman
John Iwerks has an insatiable artistic curiosity, a multifaceted artist with a love of natural landscapes. He is a graphic artist, geological illustrator, landscape painter, muralist, artist focused on geology, art teacher, stone sculptor, children’s book illustrator, chalk pavement artist, T-shirt graphic designer, and ceramic artist.
Additionally, he is a founding member of the Oak Group, a group of artists who, through their art, draw attention to the beauty of endangered landscapes and the need for their protection. He and his wife, artist Chris Chapman, were managers of the Arroyo Hondo Preserve, where they lived in an old adobe and painted the scenic views of the Gaviota Coast.
Iwerks was born and raised in Burbank, California, surrounded by art.
“I grew up in an artistic family,” said Iwerks. “My dad, Don, worked for Disney as the head of the machine and camera shop and was the recipient of an Academy Award for Lifetime Technical Achievement in the film industry. He created many of the filming innovations that were used by Disney Studio. My aunt Carlene painted, my uncle David was a portrait photographer, my sister Leslie is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, my brother Larry is a gifted landscape painter, and my grandfather, Ub Iwerks, created Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney in 1928.”
“We grew up around the Disney studio. You could use any bike that was available and cruise in the studio,” Iwerks recalled. “We’d sometimes go into the back areas where they were working on audio animatronics and watch them adjust the box that had knobs labeled ‘mouth,’ ‘shoulders,’ ‘eyeballs,’ etc. that animated the figures.”
Iwerks explained that as a kid he did cartoons and made stories out of them, “which was always fun.” He also said that in junior high he had a teacher who was very interested in what he was doing, making caricatures of the other students, and was encouraged to hang them on the wall.
After high school, he moved to Santa Barbara in 1973, where he met his mentor, landscape artist Ray Strong. Strong was a force in the California art world for 75 years, passing away in 2006. As an art educator, he taught hundreds of students over nearly six decades and helped establish several art schools, organizations, and art galleries.
“I was too late to sign up for City College but not too late for the Santa Barbara Art Institute. It was there that I met Ray Strong, who taught landscape painting,” Iwerks said. “I clicked with him. He was very supportive of young people. He would emphasize that you learn geology, so I started taking classes in geology at City College. We’d go on field trips to places like Death Valley and Cuyama and draw. I was out here in the sunshine in my shorts painting pictures for college credits!”
Iwerks also painted in his free time.
“In the ’70s, my friends, my brother Larry, and I would take painting trips. We’d go to the desert and paint. We’d do a painting in the morning and another in the afternoon,” he said. “In some cases, we wouldn’t move for more than two miles before we camped again to paint some more. And we kept painting.”
In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Iwerks worked for two different animation companies in Santa Barbara: Big Blue Marble and Animated Cartoon Productions (ACP).
“Ray Strong was the founder of Gallery 113, the first cooperative gallery in Santa Barbara,” he explained. “I started putting my paintings in there, then entered the Santa Barbara Art Association. Later I got into rock sculpture, carving them into shapes of animals.”
In 1986, Strong and Arturo Tello germinated an idea to start a painting group of seven artists, which included John and Larry Iwerks. It was called the Oak Group.
“We decided that there were a lot of landscapes in Santa Barbara that were being developed, so we tried to fight artistically to preserve these areas,” said Iwerks. “The first Oak Group show was called ‘Endangered Landscapes.’ The first show was very successful. We gave 50 percent of the proceeds to environmental groups that were fighting overdevelopment.
“We began with the Wilcox property on the Mesa above Arroyo Burro Beach, which was successful. At first the city approved the development, but the developers didn’t follow the timing of the development, so they reneged on their contract and couldn’t develop. The whole city had a fundraising event, and Michael Douglas came in and helped purchase the property, and it was given to the city. Another show was called ‘Vanishing Views.’
“On Santa Cruz Island, we worked as volunteers painting and had a show to exhibit the preserved land and donated 50 percent of the money to the Nature Conservancy.”
They have done 14 shows for the Land Trust of Santa Barbara County. Their next show will be in May. It is focusing on the protection of the remaining 27 endangered acres of Carpinteria Bluffs. It will be held at the Faulkner Gallery in the Santa Barbara Central Library.
Oak Group contributes visually, bringing attention to places that are endangered by development. Collectively the group has raised over $3 million for environmental preservation. The Oak Group started with seven artists and now has 26 members.
“We’ll be celebrating our 40th anniversary next year,” said Iwerks. “Several people from the original seven are still in the group.”
Iwerks has done works all over the Central Coast.
“I did a mural at the Carrizo Plain National Monument. I did the illustration on the panels around the room at the Visitors Center,” he said. “I also did a permanent installation of a mural at the California Nature Art Museum of a valley oak habitat.”
Iwerks also painted the logo for the City of Solvang and did geologically themed T-shirt drawings for the Geology Department at Santa Barbara City College. In the early ’90s he began teaching landscape painting classes through Santa Barbara City College’s adult education program.
His current classes focus on the Santa Ynez Valley. His first class will be at the Mission. His classes of 35 students last three hours. He does a demonstration for the first hour, and then he goes around to the students individually and educates and answers questions.
He and his wife recently completed five donated 30-inch x 40-inch paintings for Sansum Country Clinic in Solvang.
Iwerks has been married to fellow artist Chapman for 25 years.
“I feel fortunate that we work well together and we like the same things and that we are able to collaborate on many projects,” said Iwerks. “That’s been a real joy, to share things, like the Carrizo Plain Visitor’s Center.”
For more information, visit chapmaniwerks.com
