A GALLERY OF
ORIGINAL PAINTINGS
BY JAY J. JOHNSON

1990
 
Kit Fox at White Sands, 12 X 20
My initiation to painting full time began in 1990 when I completed my first
wildlife painting titled "Kit Fox at White Sands," which was immediately
accepted into the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's "Wildlife: The Artist's
View" Exhibition and national tour.  (For those who aren't familiar with this
museum: it is located in Wausau, Wisconsin and has developed a reputation
as being the foremost location in the world for promoting excellence in wildlife
art.) 

My approach was from the point of view of a naturalist.  I had graduated from
Cornell University with a degree in natural science, and had embarked on a
10,000 mile trek to explore the natural environments of the United States,
spending 16 months hiking, paddling, and bicycling through our remaining
wilderness areas.  As a child I had been intensely interested identifying bird 
and insect species.  The world of Nature was paramount to my life.
      I had always been able to draw really well, and gradually I became interested 
during the 1980's (through magazines and books) in artists who actually earned a
living by painting pictures of Nature (particularly Robert Bateman whose paintings
were very popular during this period).  By the late 1980's I was growing more
informed about this "wildlife art" genre through images of John Seerey-Lester,
Carl Brenders, Bob Kuhn and others.  Not having picked up a paint brush since
college ten years before, I decided to give it a try myself with "Kit Fox at
White Sands."  This painting required several months of effort as I attempted to
capture the scene as I had envisioned it from a visit to White Sands National
Monument in New Mexico a couple years prior. With its acceptance into the Leigh
Yawkey Woodson Museum's national exhibition I decided to pursue painting further.  
That same year, 1990, my mork was also accepted by jury into the "Society of Animal
Artists," an organization composed of selected members from around the world.  

1991

Wings Over Niagara, 24 X 48, Oil - 1991  
In 1991 I started working on larger compositions like this one. 
(close up from Wings Over Niagara)

Eider on the Mussel Ridge, 19 X 42, Oil - 1991 
Exhibited at the "Birds in Art Exhibition" at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in
Wausau, Wisconsin.  It was based on my sea kayaking experiences along the foggy
summer coast of Maine.  A few miles out from Rockland is a chain of islands known as
the Mussel Ridge, hence the name "Eider on the Mussel Ridge."  There really is a boulder
that balances like that.

 

Reflections, 9 X 12, Oil - 1991
Exhibited at the National Museum of Wildlife Art's "Western Visions" show
in Jackson, Wyoming, a fitting location since the painting is based on my 
observations of swans just north of the town of Jackson.  I continued to
exhibit each year at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in this "Western
Visions" show for the next ten years, til 2001.

 

Hidden Moose, 9 X 12, Pencil & Acrylic - 1991
While most of my work during this early period was in oils, I experimented
sometimes with other media to achieve different effects.

 

Owl on Burl, 16 X 12 - 1991
A pencil & acrylic sketch I did for a gallery show in Carmel, California.

 

1992 - 1996

Wolf Creek, 24 X 48, Oil - 1992
Just one year after showing my first wildlife painting, "Kit fox at White
Sands," I was signed on with America's leading print publisher
(The Greenwich Workshop).  This painting, "Wolf Creek," was the
first painting I completed for them.  It was released as a limited edition
fine art print in 1994 and sold out within two months. 

Bear at Salmon Falls, 28 X 22, Oil - 1995
I was taking fine detail to the limit with paintings like this one.  The process
was very slow, taking as long as 2 or 3 months for a single painting.  From
a naturalist's point of view every detail has meaning and importance - the
lichen growing on the rocks are a fascinating combination of plant and fungi
living as one organism, the fungi dissolves the rocks surface while the plant
capures the energy of sunlight; together they grow so slowly it may take
decades to cover just a few inches.  I also considered the process of leaves
turning colors in autumn to be far more important than how I, as an artist,
applied paint to convey them.  My attention during these years of detailed
paintings was set on the living subjects, not showing off with lively
brush-work.   
      The location of this falls is near Mount Katahdin in northern Maine where
I started my "ten thousand mile round-the-country trek" back in 1981. 
(close up) 

Sea Treasures, 13 X 29, Oil - 1994
Detailing more than two dozen species of shore creatures helped make this
Greenwich Workshop print a popular one.  I had made a hundred mile solo
sea kayaking trip along the coast of Everglades National Park where I was
thrilled to visit uninhabited islands where the shores were strewn with shells
like these.  Very few people visit these places where shells still rest on the
shore after being washed up months before.

Desert Sunset, 33 X 36, Oil - 1992 
One of my favorite places in the U.S. is Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
south of Phoenix on the Mexican border.  It was the inspiration for this painting
in which a coyote stands among the blooming red ocotillo.  No pebble nor prickly
thorn escaped my attention here.  This was another long project involving several
months work. 
(close up)

Cougar Cascade, 22 X 40, Oil - 1993
(close-up)
 

Wolf Ridge, 28 X 22, Oil - 1995

Kit Fox Resting, 7.5 X 12, Pencil & Acrylic - 1992

Reflection Mountain at Bear Lake, 9.5 X 16, Oil - 1993

During this period I completed more than one hundred paintings.  More images will be added in the future.