Jay Johnson puts the wilderness, and the wildlife who resides there, on a

pedestal. It holds an esteemed place in his heart and his art reflects that

reverence. "I paint," he says, "because I have such a great appreciation for

the natural world."

That appreciation came early. Living most of his childhood on the coast of

Massachusetts, his family summered in Maine where Johnson eagerly explored the

hills and forests and he would draw what he discovered. The fascination for all

things outdoors didn’t diminish with his teen years. When he was seventeen he

spent seventy days in New Hampshire climbing forty-seven of the White

Mountains’ highest peaks in one continuous, marathon hiking and camping trip.

He studied abstract painting and natural sciences at Cornell University, with a

particular appreciation of entomology. Not surprisingly, graduation saw him

continue his wanderlust. He spent the next year and a half covering ten

thousand miles of wild America, on foot, by bicycle and in a rowboat.

"I passed through every kind of natural environment there is," he

says. "Mountains, rivers, deserts and coastlines."

Finally he set about to paint full-time, his images communicating the idealized

glow of nature at its best. There is a roundness and perfection in Johnson’s

view, reflecting his feelings for the wild. His work has been exhibited at the

Society of Animal Artists annual exhibition, is in the permanent collection of

the esteemed Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum and has even been shown at the

Moose River by wildlife artist Jay Johnson	Sea Treasures by Jay Johnson	Winter Thaw by Jay Johnson
Wolf Creek by Jay Johnson