12-year-old Lynner’s painting in spotlight

LYNN – John Plunkett is used to people noticing his artwork. Since he was a small child, the 12-year-old Lynn native has heard words of encouragement from friends and family who are enthralled with his skill, resulting in pieces of original work ending up in classrooms, office cubicles and living rooms across the city.But the recognition he is receiving from a weekend art show in Salem has surpassed what he has become accustomed to. Sitting with his mother, Debbie, alongside his paintings, the mild-mannered North Shore Christian School sixth-grader received praise and accolades throughout his two-day show, once people realized that he was the artist, of course.”One woman came up and said, ‘Is this your mother’s work?’ I told her it was mine, she was really surprised,” he said.Much of the Plunkett’s Bow Ridge Road home is decorated with family photos and store bought artwork, but those trinkets are quickly becoming lost in John’s creations, which line staircases and flank either side of a dining room fireplace.Sketchbooks and albums are on every table, filled to capacity with everything from simple sketch ideas to full, detailed drawings.Still-life paintings of fruits, beaches and wooded paths accompany chalk sketches of animals and original comic book characters, and that isn’t including the 16 pieces that are still housed at the Touch of the Past Gift Shop, awaiting transportation after his show.At that show, the North Shore Christian School sixth grader earned nearly $400 selling his paintings, but the profits are nothing more than a new perk. Ask Plunkett about displaying his work, and he humbly describes how giving out his paintings as gifts is just as meaningful as selling them to strangers.”I think they make great gifts, I give them out a lot,” he said. “I like to do nice things for people, sometimes there isn’t any occasion, I just like giving gifts.”John began to draw when he was three years old, but his natural talent wasn’t realized right away. After months of worrying about her son holding his pencil like “Tarzan” when he wrote, Debbie Plunkett began to notice small pieces of paper filling the garbage.When she unwrapped the tightly crumpled paper balls, she was amazed to find sketches that children much older than her son could not duplicate.It was then that his parents realized he was holding the pencil like a paintbrush, and a thought of Tarzan turned to visions of Van Gogh.Now a decade later, Plunkett is gaining some local recognition for his oil paintings and charcoal drawings, and even bringing home a little bit of cash for his efforts.Beginning with an interest in comic books and cartoon sketches, Plunkett says his focus changed when he reluctantly began taking art classes at the Acorn Studio in Marblehead. It is there, he said, that he learned about shading and still-life paintings, which he has now turned his attention toward.He takes a lot of inspiration from nature, even designing his room to look like the rainforest, complete with plastic vines hanging from the ceiling. Frequent trips to Chatham, his favorite spot to draw, spawn paintings and sketches of beach and nature scenes, when he isn’t lost in the many art shops that area provides.Admittedly more confident in his chalk drawings, Plunkett says he enjoys oil painting more, even if he struggles at times with the medium. His favorite artist is fellow Lynn native and Vermont artist Robert Caulfield, who he met last summer.”I love his work. I think that he is similar to me because we both draw a lot of landscapes,” he said.Perhaps the most remarkable element of Plunkett’s talent is the speed in which he can complete a project. Focusing on the ideas in his head, Plunkett says he can draw a full chalk sketch in a few minutes, and finish an oil painting in about a half-hour if he isn’t copying anything.At school, Plunkett takes his sketchbook everywhere, doodling by request for a group of kindergartners that have become part of his fan club.He says he is po