John Parker was born in Burnley in 1956. Although he had shown a talent and had a passion for art whilst at school he unfortunately could not pursue this as a career and upon leaving became a slater and tiler by trade. John also had an interest in body building and fitness and at the age of twenty five opened up his own gym in Burnley and embarked on a career as a professional body builder. He competed all through the 1980's winning numerous competitions and was placed four times in Mr Britain which qualified him in 1989 to enter Mr Universe.
In 1999, he competed professionally for the last time and it was then he had the time to shift his focus from one art form to another, from a professional body builder to a watercolour artist. John is able to capture a variety of subject matters with his watercolours yet always retains his own unique, individual style creating an ethereal quality to his compositions.