Trained at the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art, UCL in London, Jack Watto studied under some of Britain’s most influential artists, including Frank Auerbach, Keith Vaughan, and Howard Hodgkin. This formative grounding instilled in him a deep respect for figurative work, structure and expressive freedom qualities that continue to define his work today.

Before dedicating himself fully to painting, Jack spent many years as an Architectural Sculptor and Restorator, contributing to significant heritage projects for UNESCO and English Heritage. This experience left a lasting imprint on his artistic language, bringing a strong sense of form, history, and material sensitivity into his paintings.

Now working full-time from his two studios in Kettering, Jack paints with instinctive energy and unapologetic honesty. His practice moves between figurative art and abstract expressionism, though he resists being confined by ‘isms’. Each piece emerges from a deeply personal place: an internal current, an emotional response, or a reaction to the world around him. His work can shift from introspective, contemplative tones to bold, visceral outbursts of colour and movement.

His recent series, Art for Planet Earth, marks a powerful evolution in his practice. Comprising eight large-scale paintings, the series is both a visual and emotional response to the urgent environmental and social challenges of our time. These works are not passive observations they are acts of protest rendered in paint. Through striking compositions and layered depth, Jack invites the viewer not only to look, but to feel, reflect, and engage.

Two works from the series seen here, Burning of Fossil Fuels and Plastics Ltd, confront the destructive impact of human activity on the planet’s ecosystems, addressing both the thoughtless industrial chaos and fragility of the natural world.

Following exhibitions of Art for Planet Earth across galleries and schools in Northamptonshire, Jack’s work continues to evolve. His current direction leans further into abstraction, while still retaining the human presence and emotional resonance that underpin all of his work.

Jack exhibits widely in the East Midlands and has works in Private Collections in the UK and USA. To own with a Watto painting is to live with something alive: shifting, questioning, and quietly insistent in its presence. A work that changes the room and the conversation within it.