WHERE DID MCNAUGHTON RECEIVE HIS TRAINING?
Jon McNaughton went to Brigham Young University on a full tuition art scholarship. After two years in the Art program Jon switched to the Design department to pursue a more formal art education verses the less appealing emphasis of modern art he was taught in the Art Department. Jon graduated with a BFA in Design, emphasis in Illustration in 1993. "Most of my growth and training as an artist have come from just being out in the field and painting from nature. Studying the masters, hands-on experience and soul searching are the best teacher an artist can have."

WHERE IS MCNAUGHTON FROM?
Jon McNaughton was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona. At age 14 his family moved to Utah. Jon currently lives in Spanish Fork, Utah with his wife and six children.

WHAT IS FRENCH BARBIZON IMPRESSIONISM?
As far as we know, McNaughton is the only living artist in the world today who paints using this method.

French Barbizon was a school of painting popular from about 1830-1875. It is called French Barbizon after a small number of artists who painted in the town of Barbizon which is about 40 miles south of Paris. These artists were some of the first to paint landscapes with a soft impressionistic quality. They often included animals, peasants and cottages in their paintings. They had a major influence on the future of Impressionism. Artists such as Pissaro, Degas, and Picasso collected works of famous Barbizon painters. Artists such as Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, and Van Gogh give credit to the Barbizon painters. One particular Barbizon painter was a favorite of Monet. Monet said, "There is only one master here - Corot. Compared to him, the rest of us are nothing, absolutely nothing."

French Barbizon is recognized by the softness of the landscape, subtle tones & colors, and the scenes of simple country life. Before about 1912, French Barbizon was about the most collected art in the world; but after World War I, the public wanted little to do with the past. They wanted to become more progressive and began to disregard anything that would be considered "old-fashioned." By and by, we had the "modern art" movement that swept the country. French Barbizon had become forgotten - until today.

Jon McNaughton, through a lifetime of research and careful study has revived the interest in French Barbizon. Today he is considered by many to be the premier French Barbizon Impressionist. We also refer to him as the Painter of Memories.

HOW EXACTLY DID MCNAUGHTON COME TO THIS STYLE OF PAINTING?
"As I prepared to graduate from college I was newly married and it was clear to me that making a living as a gallery artist was impractical. I got a job selling mutual funds. It was a real job . . . but ohhh, how I wanted to paint. Of course, it may have been a blessing in disguise. When I wasn't working, I was deeply contemplating my art. I spent all my free time painting outdoors; thinking about where I wanted to go with my art, and reading books about Impressionism. As I read, I began to discover an occasional reference to a small group of artists called the School of French Barbizon. They had inspired many of the early Impressionists. Why had I never heard of them if they were so important? I began a quest to learn everything I could about these mysterious artists. Because they were rarely mentioned in the art history books, I had to dig through university libraries and museums to learn more of this style of painting. Their influence has had a profound influence on me as an artist. I now paint in a style that is uniquely my own. Because I didn't paint in Barbizon, France in the nineteenth century, I can't call myself a French Barbizon painter. But I do call my style French Barbizon Impressionism because my work is an extension of their influence."

WHAT ARE MCNAUGHTON'S GOALS FOR THE FUTURE?
"At this point in my life, I expect to reach even higher levels of achievement with my art. This may come slowly. I don't expect to see any major changes in my style. But my goal is to better understand the forms of nature, and strive to create more powerful and memorable paintings that will bring big smiles to my collectors."

WHAT IS GICLEE?
Giclee (jhee-clay) refers to a relatively new method of creating limited edition prints. The Giclee process is initiated by scanning the original painting with a highly sensitive scanner, thereby creating an extremely high resolution digital image of the artwork. The image is printed onto canvas by a special printer using archival quality inks that are guaranteed to give fade and color shift resistance of better than 100 years. Since the digital image includes every subtlety and nuance of the original, including the smallest details of light, shadow and color, the fine art giclee often is indistinguishable from the original work of art. The finished print is sprayed with a protective coating and mounted on archival board or stretched on a rigid frame. Other advantages of Giclees are that they cost much less than the original and can be reproduced to almost any size. McNaughton Fine Art offers limited edition giclee on canvas prints in small limited editions of from 50 to 250 prints, depending on painting and size of image.

WHAT IS THE COMPANY'S POLICY FOR RETURNS?
All merchandise is 100% guaranteed to meet customer expectations. If a customer is not completely satisfied, he or she can return the merchandise within 30 days of receipt thereof and receive full refund of the purchase price. In the event merchandise received by the customer is damaged or not in accordance with the customer’s order, the Company will arrange and pay for the return of the merchandise. The Company also will issue a refund to the customer (check or credit transaction) immediately upon notification of the problem. In the event of a return, other than for damages or Company error in filling the order, the customer is responsible for paying return shipping charges and any damages that occur in shipment back to the Company. The Company is not responsible for loss or damage to merchandise returned by the customer under circumstances described in number 6 above. If returned merchandise is received in damaged condition, the Company’s refund to the customer will be reduced by the estimate of damages. If returned merchandise is lost in shipment, the customer’s only claim is against the shipping company. Upon receipt of returned merchandise in acceptable condition, the Company will issue a refund promptly to the customer in the same manner payment was received initially (check or credit transaction). Claims received from customers more than 30 days after receipt of merchandise will be reviewed on a case by case basis to determine whether or not a refund or adjustment will be made. The Company wants every customer to be completely satisfied with his or her fine art purchase, and will make every reasonable effort to meet customer expectations.

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The Company will process orders promptly and guarantees shipment of the ordered merchandise to customers within 2-3 weeks of order receipt by the Company.

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