McAllister is best known for his lush natural landscapes and distinct color palette. Instead of using the typical muted earth tones like mossy greens or ruddy browns, his paintings burst with bright colors. The lake is purple, the sky is yellow and the trees are often pink.<\/p>\n
As an avid biker, McAllister spends about 20 hours a week outdoors, but he rarely sketches or shoots photos to take to his backyard studio. <\/p>\n
\u201cRather than trying to draw a hill and a tree exactly as it was, [I] try to recall how that felt to be out there and then use colors that might elicit that kind of response,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"ablaze](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776344288_384_.jpeg\"\/)
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Courtesy <\/p>\n
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James Fuentes Gallery<\/p>\n
ablaze rapt chorus beaming, 2025 by John McAllister<\/p>\n
\u2018I just kept making\u2019<\/p>\n
McAllister said he didn\u2019t make a conscious effort to become an artist. He\u2019s always been one, and he believes kids all start out that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you sort of get socialized out of it because you start worrying about whether it looks real or what’s correct and things like that,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople just start becoming sort of conscious of what they’re doing. I think I just never went through that part. And I just kept making.\u201d<\/p>\n
His works are titled in a way that can feel poetic and playful if not a little ambiguous. <\/p>\n
One painting is named \u201csometimes beguile await while\u201d and another is \u201cvaunting haunting jaunts go romping.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"lazing](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776344290_787_.jpeg\"\/)
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Courtesy<\/p>\n
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James Fuentes Gallery<\/p>\n
lazing incandesce no less, 2020 by John McAllister<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m giving a clue as to how I thought of it, and that way I also feel like it’s disarming,\u201d McAllister said. \u201cLike it’s okay to be kind of hokey.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said the art prize will allow him to continue on with his work without worrying about the cost of paints or brushes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m not gonna, you know, suddenly be painting something alligator and surfboards or something \u2014 maybe I should do that \u2014 but it’s going to be this sort of subtle shift [with my work] with occasional larger shifts, it’s always just pushing on,\u201d McAllister said. <\/p>\n
You can see McAllister\u2019s work at the James Fuentes Gallery booth throughout the Dallas Art Fair.<\/p>\n