Early Foundations

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.
 

Restoration & Heritage

Before dedicating himself fully to painting, Jack spent many years as an Architectural Sculptor and Restorator, contributing to significant heritage projects throughout Europe and the UK 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.
 

Painting Practice

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.
 

Art for Planet Earth

His recent series, Art for Planet Earth, Protesting with a Paintbrush, marked 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.
 

Current Direction

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

His upcoming solo exhibition The Brush Leads the Way at the Lumina Gallery in Northampton showcases new Abstract Expressionist works from his current series exploring women, identity, belonging, memory, and women in war zones.
 

Exhibitions & Collections

Jack exhibits widely throughout the East Midlands and has works in private collections in the UK and USA.

He is a member of the Kettering & District Art Society, the Friends of Kettering Art Gallery and Museum, Northants and Rutland Open Studios, and Northampton Museum and Art Gallery.
 

Open Studio

Jack opens his Boddington studio every weekend in September for Northants and Rutland Open Studios. If you’d like to drop in to view other works, or chat about painting, please phone 07985 298322.
 

To live 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.
 

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