John came from a modest background, some might say financially challenged, though the cultural background of his family and ancestry was incredibly colourful to say the least. Born of a very talented genealogy, whether musically, artistically or creatively and always with forward vision, his work and achievements have been well-noted and monitored by those lucky enough to be admitted to his inner circle. His father and brother were/are virtuoso string players, and John’s talents emerged from a very young age in that vein, sketching and drawing with skill well beyond his years. His earliest influences were in admiration of the likes of fantasy artists such as Frazetta, Boris Vallejo and Melvyn Grant, technical and imposing works often featured on record album covers.
A descended Quebecois raised in Ontario, first in Ottawa, then Richmond Hill and finally settling in Georgina Township on the scenic south shore of Lake Simcoe, John found the space on a rural backroad property to begin his long and celebrated career in auto restoration before he was even old enough to be licensed to drive. After leaving school at 16 and quickly tiring of hitching to work and back for hard-labour, limited-reward jobs, John knew quickly it would be much better to work for oneself than to listen to someone giving instructions who really had no clue. ‘Johnny’ began with a Datsun 510 bought derelict from an old lady on the other side of the township, rotted and abandoned, but with a good solid engine and drivetrain. He purchased a fabulous wheelset for it including fat balloon tires as was the sport of the day, and set about recreating a car formerly unsuited to fit that set-up, where no car actually existed. He created his own technique to form the arches and the rocker panels to fit that set up of wheels, and when it was finished, he took a hammer to it to demonstrate the strength and integrity of his work, fiberglass and filler creation done perfectly to accommodate the vastly oversized rubber. A work of art really, the car looked amazing, taken from rubbish to show level by a 16 year old lad. In his 20’s he moved to Ottawa and accepted an apprenticeship at a large collision shop, but he knew repairing careless stupidity was not for him. Biding his time, he did his employed duty, he eventually met his future wife and went on to purchase a country property that would allow him to pursue his own interests and repair the cars he felt were worth the intense effort required to put one’s name to the result.
And so, began John Blouin’s long career of project car restoration, muscle cars, cool cars, unusual cars, rare cars, and invaluable cars ultimately… such as Ferrari, Aston Martin and Bristol AC among others, all thought to be priceless by their owners… very unique automobiles indeed cherished by his customers and trusted to John’s reputation. During this time, and for the past 25 years, surprisingly John has also been making exquisite electric guitars under the name BLOUIN, very ornate and intricate heavy-metal orientated units, in ‘flame’ motif and beyond, incorporating his impeccable multi-level, multi-layer painting and finishing techniques perfected in the automobile field. Included in his guitar portfolio are one-off commissioned novelty pieces, resembling the client’s business requirements, including corporate logos, sports franchises, bottling companies and the alike. However and forever, Johnny’s hunger to move forward and to do and create “more than before” has once again come calling upon his psyche. Recently and currently John has been working on and manufacturing more ‘one-off’ pieces, machines of loving grace so to speak, that both function and reward the participant viewer in ways not seen before. He wishes to take all of his 40 years of labour, skill and learning into a new direction, creating collectible pieces of metallurgical artwork to be shared here and offered for sale on the OUTSIDERART.CA website. Get in touch and prepare to be amazed by a defiant artisan with unparalleled skills!
