GARY R JOHNSON & STUDIO﻿

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"Being a painter is a way of life, you live and breathe art." This how artist Gary Johnson approaches his art. Wildlife and landscape painter, Gary Johnson takes this philosophy to heart. He has traveled to many wild areas of the world, Africa to Belize to our nation`s most beautiful wilderness areas, in his quest for a unique and inspiring image. After earning a Master of Arts degree in Painting and Drawing from California State University Los Angeles and UCLA. Gary made his living as a medical illustrator and , then in 1993, he started painting wildlife and landscapes to express his uncompromising beliefs in wildlife and habitat conservation. In 2005, Gary
won the Gold Medal Grand Prize in the Arts For The Parks Mini Top 100 competition, at the time, the highest honor one can receive for representational art in this country.

Gary works primarily in oils and mixed media on handmade paper. He paints the mixed media on handmade paper paintings using pastel, watercolor and gouache paint on various handmade papers. He mainly uses mulberry and silk papers. "I started experimenting with this technique to come up with a unique image and presentation of my artwork. It took about a year to come up with a combination of materials that worked well. Handmade papers are very rough and bleed very easily, so I had to overcome these problems to create detailed, realistic paintings".

His artwork has been juried into the prestigious Arts For The Parks Top 100 competition five times, winning the Grand Prize Gold Medal MiniatureTop 100 in 2005. He has also been juried as a Finalist in the Art Renewal Center Salon (2018 & 2019) as a Featured Artist, “Birds In Art” at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum (2016), “Art and the Animal” at the Bennington Center for the Arts (2001, 2004, 2008-2016), and the Pastel Society of America exhibition (1996). Gary has exhibited at a number of the top wildlife and western art shows in the nation, including NatureWorks, the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, the Easton Waterfowl Festival, the C.M. Russell Art Show and Auction, and the Safari Club International show. Gary’s artwork has been exhibited at the Museum of Western Art, the Gilcrease Museum and the San Diego Natural History Museum. Gary was selected as the Artist in Residence for the Rocky Mountain National Park in 2005 and Mesa Verde National Park in 2012. Gary’s artwork has been the feature article in Western Art Collector magazine (Nov 2008), Wildlife Art magazine (Nov/Dec 2006), and spotlighted in Southwest Art, Sporting Classics, Art of the West, Arizona Highways and Safari Times magazines. His artwork has been featured in the Charlie M. Russell Museum Auction, the Manitou Galleries auctions, and the Sotheby’s of London auction house. He is represented by these fine art galleries: Couer d’Alene Galleries in Idaho and Going To The Sun Gallery in Montana. Gary’s artwork is published and licensed by Art Brand Studios/Wild Wings, Inc.