I have been drawing and painting as long as I can remember, but I was 16 the first time I got paid to paint "art", working on the set of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" (left).

This first opportunity to work as a scenic artist came through Interlochen Arts Academy, an arts intensive high school where I studied stage and lighting design & production.


I then designed and contributed to several student theatre productions while attending Drew University in Madison, NJ, though I graduated with a major in philosophy. I also painted houses and freelanced as a lighting tech for Playwrights Theater of New Jersey and a few others.

In San Francisco after college, I became acquainted with a number of artists, gallery owners, designers and collectors while framing pictures for a living and not going to graduate school in philosophy. Instead, I got my first table saw and shop space in half a garage.

I was 26 when I started my first business, Relayer Custom Woodworking, in the brick warehouse at the end of Rodgers Street, making custom furniture & cabinets (right), doing custom wood finishing, and freelancing for other companies and contractors.

I met my wife Heather the same year, in the same warehouse, first as my roommate and then as my client. We first got together after I finished the custom cherry jeweller's bench that she still uses today.

We got married a year later in North Carolina where I pursued a Masters of Fine Arts in Design & Production at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC.

After two years we moved back to California, this time to San Diego, CA where I worked as a scenic artist for the San Diego Opera and then Scenery West of North Hollywood, CA.

Freelancing while working on our home in San Diego's Historic Sherman Heights led to my contractor's license (826564) in 2003 as well as several public art opportunities in our community (left).

I have spent the last 20 years of my life intensely involved in creative endeavors, culminating in the arrivals of Hunter James Hiemstra on September 20, 2005 and Logan Anelyse Hiemstra on September 18, 2007.

In addition to customized painting and finishing services, I offer individualized consulting and production services in a variety of professional contexts, including:

residential, commercial & entertainment construction, permanent and temporary public art installations,
internet design & marketing for creative professionals,
and personal development for painters intent upon
building a career as a muralist or faux finish professional.

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

1999-present       JOHN HIEMSTRA SCENIC STUDIOS San Diego, CA licensed contractor #826564
co-proprietor, custom design, build & finishing  www.john-scenic.com

2000-present       SCENERY WEST North Hollywood, CA
freelance scenic artsist    www.scenerywest.com
 
1999-2002         SAN DIEGO OPERA SCENIC STUDIOS San Diego, CA
journeyman scenic artist in IATSE 816   www.iatse-intl.org

1998-1999         NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS Winston-Salem, NC
teaching assistant in scenic art   www.ncarts.edu

1997         PERRY MANSFIELD PERFORMING ARTS Steamboat Springs, CO
master carpenter, summer theater season   www.perrymansfield.org

1997-1999         IATSE #635 & 491 Winston-Salem, NC
stage hand for 635, scenic artist for 491   www.iatse635.org

1996-1997        RELAYER CUSTOM WOODWORKING San Francisco, CA
sole proprietor, custom design & fabrication
 
1993-1996         MICHAEL THOMPSON GALLERY San Francisco, CA
production manager for wholesale/retail art & framing company
 
 
 
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY


1997-1999             NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS Winston-Salem, NC
master of fine arts candidate in scenic art   www.ncarts.edu
 
1998                 COBALT  STUDIOS White Lake, NY
faux wood grain intensive    www.cobaltstudios.net
 
1986-1990             DREW UNIVERSITY Madison, NJ
bachelor of fine arts with honors in philosophy   www.drew.edu
 
1983-1986            INTERLOCHEN ARTS ACADEMY Interlochen, MI
high school degree with honors in design & production   www.interlochen.org