As an artist, but also as a graphic designer, he observes two conflicting worlds: the world of what needs to be embellished to be sold in a hungry, competitive market, as opposed to the search for beauty and spirituality in art.
But John says he will not restrain his urge to depict what is beautiful and what fascinates him. He wants to paint that which is alive. His most recent exhibition,Woman, gathers 13 years of research and is an attempt to bring back a human touch in a time when the body is treated as a consumable with shock value.
How would you describe yourself?
I'm a nervous person but I appear calm; a dreamer, but I plan ahead; and I concentrate fully on my work, but I can switch into juggler mode. So it's like swaying between different oppositions. Since I became a parent, I've learnt to cope with finding a balance between the duties as a father and being an artist. The typical stereotype of an artist being bohemian sometimes leads people to think that the two are incompatible. But I guess it's about finding a balance. At home, they know that
Saturday morning is my time to work, for example, and no one interferes with that.
What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of my wife and children, and a silver palette which I won as first prize for the 1995 Teacher's Whiskey Art Awards painting competition.
Which one of your character traits would you change if you could?
I am not confident in public. I would love to be a public speaker and lash out at cultural meetings.
If you weren't an artist, what would you want to be?
A flamenco concert guitarist! I can relate to the Mediterranean sound and I think it's important to look for our Mediterranean roots in art.
What is your bad time of the day?
After 9 p.m. The batteries are almost dead by then, after going to and fro with the kids for the last kiss, last milk, last lights out, last hug, yawn, good night...
What really makes you mad?
People who can't paint and do exhibitions anyway. Also, not getting a word in when I speak to my three women (wife, two girls) - they really take over the conversation.
What is the one thing you regret the most?
Not being born in Venice, with all those exhibitions! I obviously can't go abroad all the time and I feel that in Malta we tend to be cut off.
Who inspired you when you were growing up?
People who kept saying, "You can't live from drawing" with a smug chuckle. I guess I wanted to prove them wrong!
Name three things you believe in.
Culture, family, nature.
What is on the walls of your favourite room in the house?
I keep the most recent painting that I would have done over the sofa to digest it well, and there is a Gabriel Caruana ceramic mask that I love over the doorway.
What makes a person sexy?
Their hair. There is nothing like a bad haircut to act as a
turnoff.
If money were no option, what would you go out and buy today?
A great, big, old house, fully detached, surrounded by high walls and orange trees.
What three things would you grab in a fire?
Marthese, Ella and Thea - my wife and daughters.
Whose style do you admire?
In painting, I think all artists who made painting more than representational, like
Goya, Rembrandt, the Impressionists, especially Monet, and also early Picasso, Frans Klein, Klee, Kandinsky and Rodin's sculpture.
After the '60s, I think western art has fallen for unfeeling shock tactics which even present what is totally illogical as art. Painting was declared dead! But it is making a comeback.
Do you have pets?
No, nor will we ever have, that is it, Thea, OK... I'm not feeding the birds or the fish or the cat for you after the first week... final.
What is your biggest luxury?
Going on holiday abroad. It's a terrible waste of hard cash! Joking aside, you can really top up on experiences abroad which remain with you always. I've been to London and I was pleasantly surprised with the beauty of Madrid. Now I'd love to have the opportunity to visit Barcelona.
When did you last go to a concert?
Last Sunday we went to an afternoon concert of a local brass band directed by a really entertaining English conductor who danced in Scottish style to explain himself! The girls loved it!
Any favourite author?
James Joyce. There is so much of Malta in his Ireland. When I read his work, words seem to jump off the page. It gives me the impression that if I were to go to Ireland, I would feel very much at home. The theme of religion and the closed society, having gone to a Jesuit school, all fall very much into place. Even the way he relates to Britain from a colonial perspective. I guess these influences, these mixtures, make our culture interesting and in Joyce's works I see a similarity to ours.
Your relationship with music?
Classical, Baroque, Bach, Wagner, Vivaldi, Verdi, Beethoven... it seems I can't get enough of music. I find it so captivating while I'm drawing. I switch off and get into concentration mode. I sometimes find myself dancing with the rhythm of the music with strokes of my paintbrush. Sometimes, unconsciously, my painting matches the mood of the music.
Favourite food?
Spanish, Moroccan, Lebanese... My wife is experimenting with recipes from these regions at the moment. When I eat this kind of food, I almost feel as though I have eaten them before. They use similar ingredients to ours but in a different way.
Woman - art exhibition
Artist: John Busuttil Leaver
Venue: Hotel Phoenicia, Floriana
Date: Until May 30