John Collette was born in Boston on Christmas Day in 1941. In his early twenties he studied music and art at Boston University. John continued to paint and sell his work through galleries in Boston and Philadelphia while attending university. During the summers he would visit Quebec City, where he sketched portraits and made pen and ink drawings of the quaint old parts of town and sold his artwork to tourists.

His early work in watercolors and ink paved the way for the development of his distinctive hand colored etching technique, to which he devoted himself for more than 25 years. John also did etchings of wildlife, oil rigs, steam engines and sailing images as well as paintings of the Hudson River Valley. John’s work is well-known in the United States and abroad and is included in many private, corporate, and public collections.

John had a passion for living. As well as creating art in many different mediums he loved playing baroque and classical music on the piano. He was an avid reader, enjoyed yoga, karate, tennis, and taking long walks in any weather. For the last 13 years of his life John Collette spent most of his time in New England and Hawaii.