JOHN D. RATAJKOWSKI

Key to artist John David Ratakowski’s work is travel, without which, he explains, he would become numb to his surroundings.  Exhibited internationally and in the U.S., Ratajkowski lived in southwest Ireland on a two-year sabbatical.  Inspired by the Celtic ruins there, he painted richly textured and vibrantly hued non-figurative landscapes.  Soon after his stay in Ireland, he was invited to be resident artist by “Dom Polonia,” the national arts council of Poland, and then to Bulgaria to exhibit in its Triennial show.  A gifted draftsman, Ratajkowski’s drawings of American Blues musicians were published in Warsaw.  Combining his expertise in abstract painting with his fine drawing ability, Ratajkowski traveled through Eastern Europe sketching and photographing Gypsy communities and producing a series of technically superb and emotionally moving collages of Gypsy life, presented in the U.S. through a grant from the California Council for the Humanities.

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