There is only a mere suggestion of shoulders and his expression is pensive, introspective. His cheeks and nose are a tangle of yellow, orange, salmon and red. The salmon and red colors continue around his head to suggest his wild hair. The whole surface has a deep texture with a strong diagonal pattern from upper right to lower left, the same direction as the light. The paint is both thick and thin with areas of bare canvas showing, painted with a palette knife. His “white” beard is pink, mauve, gold, red, purple, grey and cream. There is a muddy green background that is also full of subtle colors and the same directional texture here is smoother, drawing our attention to the face.
Although the eyes are the darkest part of the painting, he is not brooding, the colors in the face portray a warm glow from within. The expansive forehead supports the feeling of introspection or meditation, but the energy of the palette knife strokes, convey a dramatic and dynamic inner life. There are multiple inscriptions on the back, one reads “I poured my cup empty on this work - That’s for sure-” and another, “I asked the lord to please give me work that would allow me to express my inner feelings from my heart and soul-He gave me my art, my life’s work- He made me poor so I could become rich-”, June “04. I, Sheryl Jaffe, (WHS&M coordinator) could stare at this painting for many hours, Thank you, Cathy. Thank you, John.
John Mulcahy lived and painted here in Wellfleet at 262 Main Street from 1966 to 2012 and there is a plaque dedicated to him at the front of the newly renovated building. When we held our dedication last October several of Mulcahy’s friends and relatives were able to attend. Numerous friends mentioned his dedication to his potato patch, how he'd gather some richer soil from under a tree, or near the curb and attentively nurture his plants. He had a love of watching really “crappy” weather at the pier, not unusual for Wellfleetians, but he would paint a landscape in his car while it was blowing and snowing. Apparently John also could stare at his paintings for hours, someone told me that after he had sold them one of his paintings he would come by and “visit” it. He would simply sit on the couch and study the painting some times for an hour or more, while family life went on around him. The muddy-green background of this painting was undoubtedly from the “leftover” paint he always saved from previous works and continued to mix and use regularly.
John received his BFA from Boston University and also studied art at the University of Maryland Extension Program, Munich, Germany, and he studied with Arthur Stafford a noted Gloucester and Boston artist. He taught arts and crafts in Weymouth, MA before starting his own Art Studio Gallery in Wellfleet. We are fortunate to care for and share some of his works here at WHS&M.