About John

John Louis Kokalis, a native of Michigan, has spent a lifetime painting the scenes he knows and loves best. As a lifelong sailor, he spent years exploring the unique seaside communities of Michigan and Canada that border the Great Lakes. His lighthouse and seascape paintings are rich and authentic, reflecting his knowledge and love of the sea. His prairie landscapes of Western Oklahoma and New Mexico, are fresh and striking. His Floral are vivid and original. John has conducted and attended numerous watercolor workshops over the years. However, he says, his painting style is mainly self-taught.

Recently, forty-five of Johns watercolors were exclusively exhibited at the Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum, in Woodward, Oklahoma during the month of April, 2025. They included paintings of the great plains, the dust-bowl era, as well as seascapes, and other interesting subjects.

Currently, Johns painting of the tragic sinking of the Great Lakes Freighter, Edmund Fitzgerald, and a series on Great Lakes Lighthouses, are on display at the Ship Museum Valley Camp, in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. You can see those by clicking on the three bars and MORE SURF & TURF.

Over the years, Johns paintings have been exhibited in art shows in Michigan, Texas and more recently in Oklahoma, at the Paseo Gallery One, and the 50 Penn Place Gallery in Oklahoma City. His religious wall murals can be seen in the new addition at First United Methodist Church in Denton, Texas. Text at 940-367-3620