Inside John Long’s home studio, paintings do not arrive fully formed. They build slowly, layer by layer, through a process that resists planning and rewards instinct.
“I do have ideas that I’m thinking about when I’m working, but when I’m working in the studio, I disconnect the rational part of my brain, the planning part of my brain,” Long said. “I’m working more intuitively and more spontaneously.”
That philosophy anchors his work in “Explorations,” a new exhibition opening Friday, May 1, at the Art Center of Estes Park. The show runs through June 8 and pairs Long’s acrylic paintings alongside oil paintings by Jenifer Cline, as well as the Estes Park Elementary student exhibition in the Sunroom.
For Long, the title reflects a process rather than a theme. His paintings evolve over months, sometimes years, through layering, sanding, scraping and rebuilding.
“I didn’t know where I was going,” he said of a recent piece completed April 25 after several months of work. “By not trying, by not planning, just kind of following my intuition.”
That sense of discovery is visible on the surface. Many of Long’s works reveal earlier versions beneath the top layer. Histories remain embedded in paint. He intentionally distresses surfaces to make them feel worn or aged, inviting viewers to look through the painting rather than just at it.
“After it’s been painted, I will sand the surface or scrape away the paint to be able to reveal what’s underneath,” he said. “I’m looking for things to look like they’re worn, like they’re oxidizing, like they’re aging; those are some of the ideas that I’m working with as well.”
Long’s path to this approach was not linear. A graduate of Yale University, where he studied English, he moved through a series of cities and careers before committing more fully to his studio practice.
“I went from Yale back to Flint, Michigan, where I grew up and was moving furniture,” Long said. “Then my wife, Kathy, and I went to Afghanistan in the Peace Corps. When we came back, she grew up in Washington, D.C., so we were there for a while. I did teacher training while I was in D.C. And then we moved to South Bend, Indiana, and were there for three years, and then to Cleveland, where we were for 15 years, and then to Houston.”
Art remained a constant, even when it was not his primary focus.
“Raising a family and having a career as a teacher and a school administrator didn’t leave me a whole lot of time for art, but I was always very interested,” he said. “Eventually, I went to a show in Houston and said, ‘Well, I could do that.’ The next day I started, and the first thing I learned was it’s not as easy as it looks.”
That decision, made about 30 years ago, launched what he describes as “an ongoing exploration of different ideas and different media.” His practice has included photography, woven collage portraits and sculptural art boxes before settling primarily into painting.
Across those forms, a throughline emerges. Pattern, layering and a resistance to perfection shape his work.
“I’m really interested in patterns, lines, and colors and, in terms of the patterning, imperfection,” he said. “Making sure that it is clear that it is done by human hand.”
Many of the works in “Explorations” draw loosely from mandalas, geometric forms historically used as meditation tools, but Long intentionally disrupts their symmetry.
“They’re my versions of abstract geometric mandalas that are imperfect rather than perfect, asymmetrical rather than symmetrical,” he said.
That emphasis on the human touch has taken on new urgency in an era of artificial intelligence-generated imagery. Long recently earned a certification identifying his work as human-made, a distinction he says matters both philosophically and practically.
“There’s so much AI going on right now,” he said. “Because I do so much patterning, I get people who ask me, ‘Did you use a computer to do that?’ It’s like, ‘No.’ And once you begin to look closely at it, you can see that the intentional imperfections are part of it.”
Long moved to Estes Park full-time about eight years ago. What he expected to be a scenic retirement has become something more rooted. He and his wife, Kathy, who serves as president of the Estes Park League of Women Voters, have built a wide network through civic and arts involvement.
“I never lived in small towns and never thought that I would like that,” he said. “But moving here, we’ve gotten very involved with the community.”
That involvement now includes serving on the board of the Art Center of Estes Park, helping organize its annual studio tour and participating in the cooperative gallery’s operations. While Estes Park may not draw visitors primarily for its arts scene, Long sees a quieter but committed creative community taking shape.
“There’s an active group of musicians, visual artists, and photographers who do their own work and some very accomplished people,” he said.
His own work stands apart from the region’s more traditional landscape-driven art. Though his paintings are occasionally inspired by his hikes and local landmarks, including one that references Chasm Lake, they remain abstract and focus on internal systems rather than external views.
“I finished it the week after I had done a hike up to Chasm Lake, but the moon is not going to be seen in that location over Chasm Lake,” he said. ““You can’t say, ‘Well, OK, this is Longs Peak.’ It’s not that direct.”
Instead, what viewers encounter is a body of work built on accumulation. Layers, time and decisions made and undone all remain visible. Long has completed 1,987 works over the past three decades, a pace that reflects both discipline and curiosity.
That productivity extends beyond the canvas. Like many contemporary artists, he manages every aspect of his practice, from stretching canvases and building frames to maintaining websites, applying for shows and shipping sold work.
“If you’re going to be an artist in 2026, you’ve got to be promoting your work and be an entrepreneur,” he said. “That is, if you want to sell your work, you know, some people just want to paint.”
For this exhibition, Long selected about 20 pieces, arranging them in his studio to simulate the gallery experience. He is part of the team that installs shows at the Art Center, which gives him a sense of how audiences will encounter the work.
In an era shaped by artificial intelligence, Long is aware that his work can read as digital at first glance. The grids, patterns and layered structures can suggest something generated rather than made.
“I’ve been told my work is reminiscent of the Matrix,” Long says. “I’m in some ways playing off of that idea. It’s like, okay, this could be computer-generated, but it clearly isn’t. I want to demonstrate the partnership between my creative spirit and the hand, so I’m building in these imperfections.”
“Explorations” opens Friday, May 1, at the Art Center of Estes Park and runs through June 8. Admission is free.
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