Born in Washington, DC, in 1945 and raised in Baltimore, John Thomas Wells' education was a composite of private tutoring, selected university courses and personal investigation. A major influence in his creative development was a two-year residence in Japan, 1964 - 1966. There he studied Sumi-e, the traditional Japanese brush painting, and oriental calligraphy which launched his first prolific period of water color painting.

As a young artist he sold his work on the streets of New York City, including the unsanctioned artists' bazaar by the fountains in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and later through Benwai Gallery in Provincetown, Cape Cod, in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, Wells apprenticed with Benoit Gilsoul, the Belgium artist, then executing large public commissions in sandblasted glass from his studio in lower Manhattan. Wells then opened his own glass studio and went on to execute highly complex glass mural commissions in public and private venues in Manhattan, Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Maryland.

From 1993 to 2003, the artist’s studio was situated at the Artists Housing Cooperative in East Baltimore. During that period, his intrinsic collecting of and fascination with artifacts evolved into his assemblage period. “This work”, he states, “is an exploration into, and celebration of infinity." His process begins with "harvesting objects which are imbued with subtle qualities and allowing them to interact with other finds." This work has been exhibited extensively in the Mid-Atlantic region and was selected into the Maryland State Art Council's Critic's Residency Program in 2003. He was then juried into the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia in 2004. His prolific output flowed through over 20 exhibits spanning a 20 year period, including an exhibit of his musical assemblages at the Strathmore Music Center in 2015.

His other mediums include abstract photography, poetry and feature film screenplays.