John Maitland was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne and attended King College Newcastle to study art. He has been showing his work since the early ’70s in England and it has been on show in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast since his move to Australia in 1975.
In 2003, the Galt Foundation of Canada used his work in its ‘Faces of the World’ promotion and has published new works again in 2005. An American media company has featured his work in an educational video alongside Picasso and Matisse. In 2006 he was invited to exhibit his work in New York.