Douglas Johnson

Artist Statement

Born in upstate New York, as a child I traveled the world as a military brat, living in all four corners of the United States as well as in Europe. During those adventuresome times (11 schools over 12 grade-school years) I developed passions for people, medicine, aviation, and art. My 'artwork' began as pencil drawings of aircraft and spacecraft at my desk during elementary school (much to my math and English instructors' chagrin). In college, I painted landscapes from memories of my youth to relax between studies and exams. During my ensuing medical and military career, I painted to commemorate the places I lived and traveled, as time permitted.

Upon retiring from a long and successful career as a physician, US Air Force officer, pilot, and cancer researcher in 2014, I was finally able to pursue making art as the next full-time chapter of my life.

Oils and acrylics are my media of choice, and for the last 50 years I have enjoyed painting both in the studio and in plein air. My heroes are the Impressionists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although largely self-taught, I have more recently studied under Paul Ladnier, George Van Hook, Ken DeWaard, and Bill Farnsworth. I'm honored to have received numerous awards in regional art shows and have had my images published in several nationally-distributed publications (see CV). My work is now represented in private collections throughout the United States, from Nevada to Florida and from Texas to New York.
Having moved away from my early years of tight photo-realism, I now rather try to capture the mood, action, or history of a subject, Depicting the interaction of humanity's creations (via architecture or machine) alongside the beauty of nature is especially compelling: hence my frequent pairing of aircraft with skies, boats on waterways, and buildings wrapped by trees and vegetation.

When not in the field painting, my wife and I split our time between our studios near the Atlantic Ocean in northeastern Florida and mountains of northeastern Georgia.