When he was just seventeen years of age he climbed all 48 of the highest peaks in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, becoming the youngest person to do so in one continuous trek. Since then he has walked and paddled through virtually every environment in America from mountain tops to river valleys to arid deserts.
He has sea-kayaked extensively along both the Pacific coast and the Atlantic coasts. He has also hiked both the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, totaling 4700 miles. He has bicycled 3,000 miles across the southwestern deserts of the United States; and has driven many thousands of miles more along western back-country roads in search of his wildlife subjects. In the early 1980’s he completed a solo wilderness trek spanning sixteen months, covering 10,000 miles around America (featured in more than fifty newspapers nationwide).
At Cornell University he studied both Art and Natural History, gaining an in-depth scientific knowledge of his wild subjects while at the same time learning the fundamentals of Traditional and Modern Art. Working today in his studio, Johnson follows the time-honored tradition of painting with oils on fine linen, capturing the movement, spirit and realism of American wildlife. His paintings have become part of private collections nationwide through western galleries in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, and eastern galleries in Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Vermont.

Wilderness Research Trips
For me the greatest joy is being out-of doors. In the “ADVENTURES IN NATURE” section of this web site you can read and see photographs of my outdoors adventures, starting in the 1960’s continuing right up to the present. Whether it’s kayaking the coast of British Columbia, hiking the Appalachian Trail, or exploring Belize, I’ve never been disappointed by what I’ve seen.
1990
Early Artwork
My initiation to painting full time began in 1990 when I finished my first wildlife painting titled “Kit Fox at White Sands.” Several months went into it, and then the jurors at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum saw it and decided to include it in their new show, Wildlife: The Artist’s View – followed by a tour to other museums around the country.
My approach at this time was from a naturalist’s point of view. I had graduated from Cornell University with a degree in natural science, and had completed a 10,000 mile trek, exploring the natural environments of America, spending 16 months hiking, paddling, and bicycling. I had always (from my earliest childhood recollections) been able to draw and paint, but now I realized that there were people who actually earned a living by painting pictures of animals. The acceptance at Leigh Yawkey inspired me to create more paintings, and within a few months I was voted in as new member of the Society of Animal Artists, an international organization whose focus is on depicting animals in two-dimensional and sculptural art.
During these early years my “Art” continued to be governed by strong feelings I had as a naturalist and scientist, which meant imbuing each painting with fine details. Lichens growing on rocks were not only fascinating because of their visual patterns, but because of their symbiotic relationship of plant and fungi living together as one.
When I looked at a leaf and noticed a ball-shaped bulge on its under-surface, I felt it was important to paint that detail because I knew that a parasitic wasp larva was living inside. My knowledge of Nature outweighed my knowledge of Art. Details and fine-pointed brushes were the order of the day. Fortunately this type of Art was sought after by art collectors and within one year of completing Kit Fox at White Sands I was working closely with America’s leading publisher of “fine-art- prints.” The Greenwich Workshop wanted to make limited edition reproductions of my paintings and sell them through their network of galleries across America and Canada. For the next five years I worked under their direction, creating paintings for this venue.
1996
Textured Acrylics Acrylics (click to see the art) As my knowledge of the Art World began to catch up with my knowledge of the Natural World, I began to look beyond the genre of wildlife art to discover other painting techniques that would convey how I felt about wild creatures. My appetite for studying and learning about other artists’ work was insatiable, and my library of art books covered the whole gamut of styles and periods. By 1996 I was prepared to embark on a new course and direction, to experiment with a new media that would allow me more freedom. I chose acrylic paints because of their rapid drying time. I had been using slow-drying oils for five years and now appreciated acrylics ability to dry within minutes, to layer on the paint and create translucent glazes that would have taken days or weeks with oils. I developed a method of building up texture on the panel’s surface with plaster and acrylic paste on top of which I layered thin paint. Texture became a new passion, and I even went so far as to glue pebbles onto the surface to simulate the ground where a fox or quail would stand.
1998
I was invited to participate in the “Artists of America Exhibition” in Denver. This was an auspicious occasion on which to show my new acrylic works for the first time. Not only did the paintings sell, but the number of ballots cast for my paintings was second only to one other artist. I went home with renewed enthusiasm and set to work at a pace that far exceeded anything I had accomplished in oil paints. Over the next two years I envisioned, produced, framed and sold more than 100 paintings.
2000 to Present Art (click to see the art)
During the spring of 2000 as one of my acrylics was featured on the cover of Southwest Art magazine, the leading publication on realism in the American west, I began once again to experiment with Oils. My desire to capture animals in motion was at odds with the acrylic medium. It seems that the very thing that had attracted me to acrylics was now the major drawback: the quick drying time. When you put a brush-stroke down with acrylic, it sticks. Put a brush-stroke down with oil paint and it can be moved, manipulated, and blended in hundred different ways. Moving animals required a moving medium. And so I returned to Oils.
The Art of Painting
OBSERVATION
To paint you must first be an observer. Over the past thirty five years as I’ve traveled all over America, I’ve been privileged to witness an abundance and diversity of living things. There’s no substitute for being there in the natural environment. My approach toward painting has been from the perspective of one who understands ecosystems and biology. At an early age I formed a bond with Nature that has led me to study the intricacies of plants and animals. At Cornell University I focused on both the scientific and aesthetic aspects. The natural environment which surrounds all of us has evolved over millions of years. Our species, Homo sapiens, evolved within this environment; in close touch with its wild inhabitants. Some of the earliest paintings that Man ever produced are the cave paintings depicting wild prey animals. Today there is a definite separation between Man and Nature. Americans today view more wildlife on TV than in person. As an artist who depicts these subjects I have made every effort to bridge this gap in my own personal life. This is why I’ve made journeys that traversed thousands of miles of wilderness, spending months at a time sleeping out under the stars: to slow down long enough to be an observer. To read more about this click Adventures in Nature
PLANNING
Everyday while I’m at work in my studio I think of more ideas for paintings than I’ll ever have time paint. There is so much in Nature that I could convey. And I have so much enthusiasm for it all. The task (or job) is to filter out what I feel the most emotion for, and then concentrate on those aspects. Within arms reach of my easel is a six foot high window that looks out over a wooded wetland. On any given day there will be chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, juncos, sparrows, and cardinals feeding just outside the glass. Further off are rambunctious squirrels. Each season brings variations here in New England; in winter I can see deer against white snow among bare branches; in summer a family of woodchucks moves in. It’s the movement and the change that catches my attention. I’ve been focusing on that. For me the natural world is always moving – whether it’s birds flying or deer walking or leaves blowing in the wind. There’s always something moving and changing. Clouds drifting across the sky block out the sun and instantly alter the lighting of whole forests. Deliberately my paintings seek to capture movement.
PREPARATION
Museum professionals have found that most of the damages of aging that so many oil paintings have experienced over past centuries are due to the surface on which they were painted. Oil paint is not flexible when it dries; it becomes a thin brittle layer supported by whatever it was painted on. Science and technology have shown us that linen canvas and its surface preparation (rabbit skin glue) absorb atmospheric moisture, and consequently expand and contract with changing humidity. Also canvas that is initially stretched tight between stretcher bars (as most paintings were) loses its tautness over time. These contributing factors explain why most historic paintings that we see in museums are etched with fine cracks.
Before I begin painting I create a solid surface by “mounting” the linen by hand with archival adhesive on the highest quality hardwood panel that is moisture resistant. The texture of the Belgian linen is still excellent, as it has been for centuries since the early Europeans first learned how to make it by extracting the long fibers of the flax plant. From this same plant is extracted the oil with which oil paints are primarily composed. The fabric was named “linen” and the oil was named “linseed.” Both from the same plant crop. The irony is that linseed oil must never come in direct contact with linen. A thin layer of gesso must always separate the two parts of the plant. (Linseed oil causes linen to break down.)
PAINTING
“Painting should always be a challenge. With the goal of expanding your knowledge and creativity, it becomes a lifelong journey of exploration.” This pretty much sums up my outlook, so that rather than painting the same subjects over and over again in the same manner, I prefer to “evolve” and make new observations. It’s similar to how I’ve approached my travels outdoors in the wilderness. To me there’s nothing better than pushing ahead into unknown territory.
On this web site you’ll find two sections that show some of my earlier paintings from as far back as 1990. You can see exactly where I’ve been and where I am presently going. My artwork began with the realistic painting of Nature and continues to focus on that. Along the way I moved from carefully executed paintings in oils to more impressionistic acrylic paintings to today’s current paintings in looser, more energetic oils.
STUDIO
My studio with 9 foot high ceiling and 6 foot high northlight window is first and foremost a functional place to work. While the window provides a lot of light, I also rely on a combination of overhead “daylight fluorescent lamps” and “halogen lamps” to simulate the different lighting conditions under which my painting might be seen (such as “natural” light, “gallery & museum” light, and “home” light). The rolling painting table in the front center (decorated with silk plants and flowers) contains all my paints, brushes and tools, and has a built-in-pallette. It allows me to position all these working materials exactly where I need them next to the easel which I built myself. I have a lot of silk plants hanging around the studio which combined with the view out the window give me the feeling of being outdoors while I paint. I often have sounds of nature playing on the CD stereo system – sounds as diverse as insects of Borneo, frogs of the Amazon, bird calls of New Zealand, as well as all the familiar sounds of North America’s natural environments. In the front right is a 24″ LCD computer monitor. On the shelves above are some of my art books, and paper supplies. To the left are floor-to-ceiling cabinets the whole length of a 24 foot wall (only part of which is shown in the photo). These contain everything I need to work with.
The “studio” is only one third of the entire space, the other areas contain storage racks for paintings in progress (I have dozens in various stages of completion), all sorts of frames, and shipping materials. Of course my cat (pictured on the floor) has free range over everything. When he was younger he would carry paint brushes in his mouth up the stairs at night and lay them at the foot of my bed.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Animals do not remain stationary for long, and it’s not possible to do a painting entirely from memory. No one can sketch or paint fast enough to capture accurately a moving animal in the wild. Early artists such as Audubon solved this problem by shooting their subjects with a gun. They brought the animal back to the studio to be propped up and posed for however long it took to paint the motionless specimen.
Photography has opened a lot of new possibilities. Today’s digital cameras combined with precision telephoto lenses and image-stabilization can accurately capture the natural movements of animals, their living colors, and surrounding environments in ways that could only be imagined just decades ago. Since 1973 when my parents first gave me a 35mm single-lens-reflex camera in my early teens, I have been photographing everything I see outdoors, from the tiniest insects to the largest mountains. At a young age I became fluent in camera jargon such as f-stops, shutter speeds, and depth-of-field. Over the years I have accumulated tens of thousands of 35mm slides, all of which are precisely catalogued and stored so that they are available for use in my paintings. Scanning these into a computer has further enhanced this archive for painting possibilities. Today I download images directly from my digital camera’s memory cards. Even more valuable to me now is a Digital Camcorder which can capture whole sections of time during which an animal may be running or flying. Back in my studio I can view the entire episode on a computer monitor in ultra-slow motion to “capture” whatever images I find most interesting using special software.
In traditional Art genres (such as still-life, landscape, and portraiture) the use of photography has often been frowned upon. In these genres the artist typically positions himself in front of a motionless subject and paints what he sees with his eyes. This is fine if you intend to limit your interests to only that which can be easily seen. But if you want to create paintings of such elusive subjects as wild animals, then you need to utilize more sophisticated techniques. People unfamiliar with photography in painting often assume that the artist positions himself in front of a photograph as he would a still-life and simply copies what he sees in a single photograph. This is hardly the case.
My approach is to first review what images I have on file, looking for that indefinable something that sparks my interest enough to want to paint it. Let’s say it involves a particular species of bird in flight. Most often it is the position or posture of a bird combined with the right illumination, like a ballet dancer on stage making a beautiful shape or movement beneath the spotlights. From this I draw my initial concept. The digital resolution is often low on Camcorder images, so I have to search my image archive for other shots which can be used to “re-construct” parts of the bird. It may require half a dozen photos to paint a single bird. If the head is blurred or fuzzy, for example, I’ll need to find an image that shows the bird’s head from the same angle in better detail, or if its wings are out of focus, then I’ll need photos of wing feathers.
The background often takes form on the painting surface, but sometimes it may evolve in a sketch as I explore what abstract colors and shapes work best with the shape of the bird. I generally like to keep the background “loose” and “abstract” because that’s how the human eye sees it when motion is fast. Visible strokes of a brush add energy and life. With the background generally painted and the bird positioned, I start considering what plants might likely be seen in this species’ environment. Again this requires a search through my visual files until some possible candidates found. I try them out, one by one. I make adjustments. I may alter the background. I may re-arrange the plants. I may even move the bird or alter the colors. The process of painting “from photographs” is very different from painting what is in right in front of you. On the one hand you have a stationary and tangible set of objects. On the other hand you have fragments of ideas that must be pieced together to re-create something that was once glimpsed and felt.
National Exhibitions
At the “Artists of America” exhibition in Denver 1998
GREAT AMERICAN ARTISTS
Cincinnati, Ohio 2001
Great American Artists exhibition held at The Cincinnati Club
ARTISTS OF AMERICA
Colorado History Museum, Denver, Colorado 1998
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WILDLIFE ART
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Western Visions Exhibition: 2001, 2000, ’99, ’98, ’97, ’95, ’94, ’93, ’92, ’91
GILCREASE MUSEUM
Tulsa, Oklahoma
American Art in Miniature Exhibition: 2008, ’07, 2’06, ’04, ’01, ’00, 1999
LEIGH YAWKEY WOODSON ART MUSEUM
Wausau, Wisconsin 2006, 2003, 1998, ’93, ’92, ’91, ’90
2006 Birds in Art Exhibtion & National Tour: The Wildlife Experience, Parker,
CO; Lindsay Wildlife Museum, Walnut Creek, CA; R.W. Norton Art Gallery,
Shreveport, LA
2003 Birds in Art Exhibtion & National Tour: Lindsay Wildlife Museum, Walnut
Creek, CA
1998 Birds in Art Exhibtion & National Tour: Museum of the Southwest, Midland,
Texas; Lindsay Wildlife Museum, Walnut Creek, CA; Deleware Museum of Natural
History, Wilmington, DE
1993 Natural Wonders Exhibtion & National Tour: Anniston Museum of Natural
History, Anniston, AL; Fort Morgan Museum, Fort Morgan, CO; Rockport Center
for the Arts, Rockport, TX; Parkersburg Art Center, Parkersburg, WV; Gallery
of Sporting Art, Genesee County Museum, Mumford, NY; Lake Whales Museum,
Lake Wales, FL
1992 Birds in Art Exhibtion & National Tour: Buffalo Museum of Science,
Buffalo, NY; The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA; The High
Desert Museum, Bend, OR
1991 Birds in Art Exhibtion & National Tour: American Museum of Natural
History, New York, NY; The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury, MD;
Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma, WA
1990 Wildlife: The Artist’s View Exhibtion & National Tour: Rochester Museum
& Science Center, Rochester, NY; Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, Michigan; The R.W.
Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, LA; The Cleveland Museum of Natural History,
Cleveland, OH; Grassmere Wildlife Park, Nashville, TN; The High Desert Museum,
Bend, OR
SOCIETY OF ANIMAL ARTISTS
ANNUAL EXHIBITIONS: 2009, ’08, ’07, ’06, ’04, ’03, ’00,
1999, 97, ’96, ’93, ’91, ’90.
2009 National Exhibition: The Wildlife Experience, Parker, CO
2008 National Exhibition: Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, WI
2007 National Exhibition & National Museum Tour: The Wildlife Experience,
Parker, CO; West Valley Art Museum, Surprise, AZ; Spartanburg Art Museum,
Spartanburg, SC; Zanesville Art Center, Zanesville, OH; Arizona-Sonora
Desert Museum Art Institute, Tucson, AZ
2006 National Exhibition & National Museum Tour: The Wildlife Experience,
Parker, CO; West Valley Art Museum, Surprise, AZ; Bergstrom-Maher Museum,
Neenah, WI; Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC
2003 National Exhibition: The Hiram Blauvelt museum, Oradell, NJ
2004 National Exhibition & National Museum Tour: Hiram Blauvelt
Art Museum, Oradell, NJ; Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria, IL;
West Valley Art Museum, Surprise, AZ; Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural
History, Norman, OK; University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE; The Art
Institute at the Arizona-Sonora desert Museum, Tucson, AZ
2003 National Exhibition: The Hiram Blauvelt museum, Oradell, NJ
2000 National Museum Tour: The William S. Fairfield Public Gallery, Sturgeon Bay,
WI; Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD; Burpee Museum of Natural History, Rockford,
IL; University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE; Corpus Christi Museum of
Science and History, South Texas Institute for the Arts, Corpus Christi, TX
1999 National Exhibition & National Museum Tour: Cleveland Museum of Natural
History, Cleveland, OH; Burpee Museum of Natural History, Rockford, IL; Neville
Public Museum, Green Bay, WI; Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City,
UT; RW Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, LA
1997 National Exhibition & National Museum Tour: Fort Hayes Metropolitan
Educational Center, Columbus, OH, Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, NJ
1996 National Exhibition & National Museum Tour: The Witte Museum, San
Antonio, TX; The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA; Neville
Public Museum, Green Bay, WI; The R.W. Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, LA;
Delaware Museum of Natural History, Wilmington, DE
1993 National Exhibition & National Museum Tour: Washington State Historical
Society, Tacoma, WA,; University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE; The
Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, Pine Bluff, AR; The Carnegie
Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA; The High Desert Museum, Bend, OR
1991 National Exhibition & National Museum Tour: The Cleveland Museum of
Natural History, Cleveland, OH; Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville,
VA; The Witte Museum, San Antonio, TX; San Bernardino County Museums,
Redlands, CA; Anniston Museum of Natural History, Anniston, AL
1990 National Exhibition & National Museum Tour: St. Hubert’s Giralda Animal
Art Museum, Madison, NJ; Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, VA; Glen
Helen Nature Preserve, Yellow Spring, OH; Denver Museum of Natural History,
Denver, CO; Bloomington Park District Museum, Chicago, IL
U.S. EMBASSY, MOSCOW, Russia
1992 – 1991
MASTERWORKS IN MINIATURE
Gallery One, Mentor, Ohio
2009, 2008, ’07, ’06, ’05, ’03, ’02, ’01, ’00, 1999, ’98, ’97, ’96, ’95,
’94, ’93, ’92, 91, 90
ART OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, Vermont
2007, ’06, ’05, ’03, ’01, 1998, 1997
BEST IN THE WEST ART AUCTION
Park City, Utah 2001, 2000
Exhibition held at the Grand Summit Hotel
ANIMALS IN ART
Massachusetts State House, Boston, MA 1997
ARTS FOR THE PARKS
Jackson Hole, Wyoming 2004, ’03, 1997, 1990
Opening held at the Jackson Lake Lodge in the Grand
Tetons National Park, WY
2004 Arts for the Parks Exhibition & National Museum Tour
1997 Arts for the Parks Exhibition & National Museum Tour:
Jackson Lake Lodge, Jackson, WY; Jefferson National Memorial, St. Louis,
MO; Braithwate Gallery, Cedar City, UT; Dunnegan Gallery, Bolivar, MO;
Heritage Arts, Millbury, MA; Cultural Arts, Estes park, CO; Four Seasons
Art, Hendersonville, NC
1990 Arts for the Parks Exhibition & National Museum Tour:
Cumberland Mueum, Nashville, TN; Santa Barbara Natural History
Museum, Santa Barber, CA; Chamizal National Monument, El Paso, TX; Frye
Art Museum, Seattle, WA
THE GREAT AMERICAN LANDSCAPE
Bighorn Galleries, CA, CO, CT, WY
1995
AMERICAN MINIATURES EXHIBITION
Settlers West Galleries, Tucson, Arizona
2001, 1994, ’93, ’92
MASTERVISIONS EXHIBITION
Gallery One, Mentor, Ohio
1993
MEMORIES EXHIBITION
GWS Galleries, Carmel, California
1992
AUDUBON ARTISTS’ EXHIBITION
The National Arts Club, New York, NY
1991
GRAND NATIONAL EXHIBITION
Salmagundi Club, New York, NY
1991
NATIONAL FOREST CENTENIAL TOUR
Exhibition toured in Wyoming, Minnesota, and Virginia
1991
VANISHING NATURE EXHIBITION
Opening in Houston, TX; Toured to Virginia and Ontario
1990.
Magazines
SOUTHWEST ART magazine
June 2001
“Wolf-Walk” on the cover
feature article
U.S.ART magazine
December 2000
feature article
WILDLIFE ART magazine
March 2000
feature article
AMERICAN ARTIST magazine
December 1999
feature article
News Media
Wild America Journey (1981 & 1982)
Evening News, Salem, MA, 6/3/81; Marblehead Reporter, Marblehead, MA, 6/4/81; Katahdin Times, Millinocket, ME,
6/23/81; Eagle Times, Claremont, NH, 7/6/81; Daily Citizen-News, Dalton, GA, 10/29/81; Pickens County Progress,
Jasper, GA, 10/29/81; Alabama Journal, Montgomery, AL, 11/3/81; Daily Home, Talladega, AL, 11/11/81; Mobile
Register, Mobile, AL, 11/19/81; Mobile Press, Mobile, AL, 11/19/81; Boston, Globe, Boston, MA, 11/20/81; Daily
Evening Item, Lynn, MA, 11/20/81; Mississippi Press, Pascagoula, MS, 11/26/81; Daily Herald, Biloxi, MS, 11/27/81;
West Bank Guide, Gretna, LA, 12/13/81; Houma Daily Courier, Houma, AL, 12/17/81; Daily Review, Morgan City, AL,
12/81; Times-Picayune, New Orleans, LA, 12/10/81; Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Sarasota, FL, 12/11/81; Orange Leader,
Orange, TX, 1/13/82; Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, TX, 1/16/82; Galveston Daily News, Galveston, TX, 1/18, 22/82;
The Facts, Clute, TX, 1/30/82; Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, 2/4/82; Rockport Pilot, Rockport, TX, 2/82; Valley
Morning Star, Harligen, TX, 3/2/82; Brownsville Herald, Brownsville, TX, 3/3/82; South Padre Press, Port Isabel, TX,
3/3/82; News-Guide, Eagle Pass, TX, 3/4,11/82; News-Herald, Del Rio, TX, 3/1/82; Carlsbad Current-Argus, Carlsbad,
NM, 3/16/82; Artesia Daily Press, Artesia, NM, 3/82; Alamagordo Daily News, Alamagordo, NM, 3/18/82; Independent,
Springerville, AZ, 3/25/82; Independent, Gallup, NM, 3/26/82; Times-Independent, Moab, UT, 4/1/82; Southern Utah
News, Kanab, UT, 4/8/82; Desert Trail, San Bernardino County, CA, 4/8/82; Palo Verde Times, CA, 4/14/82; Star-News,
Chula Vista, CA, 4/22/82; Hood River News, OR, 9/8/82; Boston Globe, Boston, MA, 10/11/82
Other News Media
- A BRUSH WITH NATURE, North Shore Sunday, Ipswich, MA 12/19/99
- JAY J. JOHNSON, Hamilton/Wenham Chronicle, Ipswich, MA, 12/23/99
- WILDLIFE ARTIST, Boston Globe, Boston, MA (full-page, 2/8/98)
- “I PAINT WHAT I HAVE SEEN,” Boston Globe, Boston, MA, (full-page, full-color, 5/11/97)
- WILDERNESS JOURNEY, The Evening News, Salem, MA (3/19/97)
- NATURE PAINTING, Marblehead & Swampscott Reporters, MA (3/6/97)
- CAPTURING THE WILD, The Evening News, Salem, MA (11/21/96)
- A BRUSH WITH NATURE, Beverly Citizen, Beverly, MA (11/13/96)
- CALL OF THE WILD, Beverly Citizen, Beverly, MA (11/6/96)
- JAY JOHNSON: AN ARTIST CAPTURES IMAGES OF WILDLIFE, Hamilton/Wenham Chronicle, MA (10/30/96)
- ART AND THE ANIMAL, San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio, TX (10/20/96)
- JAY J. JOHNSON, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Sharon, MA (Fall 1996)
- WILDLIFE FOR JAY JOHNSON, Worcester Telegram, Worcester, MA (6/30/96)
- WILDLIFE ART EXHIBITION, Sanctuary, Massachusetts Audubon Society, MA (Vol. 35, No. 6, 6/96)
- JAY JOHNSON’S TRAVELING ART SHOW, New England Wildlife Artists Quarterly, Millbury, MA (’96)
- AN EVENING WITH WILDLIFE ARTIST JAY J. JOHNSON, WAA Spectrum, Watertown, MA (Nov. 1995)
- ARRVAL OF AN ARTIST, North Shore Sunday, Ipswich, MA (3/17/91)
- A REALIST NATURALLY, The Evening News, Salem, MA (2/28/91)
- ANIMAL ARTISTS, Desert News, Salt Lake City, UT (Jan. 1991)
- NATURE & ART: JAY J. JOHNSON, Cornell Alumni News, Ithaca, NY (12/90)
- A VISUAL SAFARI, The Independent, New Providence, NJ (10/24/90)
- JOHNSON’S PAINTINGS ARE ON TOUR COAST TO COAST, Marblehead Reporter, Marblehead, MA (9/20/90)
- ARTIST COMPLETES TREK, Pinedale Roundup, Pinedale, WY (9/16/90)
- ARTIST SPREADS INFLUENCE BEYOND TOWN’S BORDERS, The Evening News, Salem, MA (9/14/90).
BOOKS
New England NatureWatch (2003)
published by Commonwealth Editions, Beverly, MA
illustrated by Jay J. Johnson with approximately 70 black & white paintings
Click to see the illustrations:
BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS
Author, Tom Long, has distilled 6 years’ work as the Boston Globe’s “NatureWatch” columnist to create a month-by-month
wake-up call to the abundant life in our own backyards. Each of the 12 chapters encompasses one month, described
first as an essay, then day by day in brief snapshots of what may be transpiring somewhere in New England.
Mr. Long says this of his writing: “Nature isn’t something you experience through a television, it’s right out there in
your own backyard. Those of us who are lucky enough to live in New England have front-row seats to a full calendar of
natural dramas that play themselves out every second of every day.”
Art from the Parks (2000)
Hardcover 144 pages published by Northlight Books, Cincinnati, OH
Jay J. Johnson contributor
Painting More Creatively (2000)
Paperback published by Northlight Books, Cincinnati, OH
Jay J. Johnson contributor
Best of Wildlife Art II (1999)
Hardcover 144 pages published by Northlight Books, Cincinnati, OH
Jay J. Johnson contributor
Wildlife Art (1999)
Hardcover 142 pages
published by Rockport Publishers, Gloucester, MA
Jay J. Johnson contributor
Painting Birds (1996)
Hardcover 136 pages published by Northlight Books, Cincinnati, OH