PROFILE

"Being a painter is a way of life, you live and breathe art." This is how Gary R. Johnson approaches his art. Gary earned a BA in Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts from UCLA and a MA in Painting anfd Drawing from California State University, Los Angeles. Upon graduation, Gary made his living as a medical ilustrator and honed his fine art skills on his own time. In 1993 he started painting wildlife and landscapes to express his uncompromising beliefs in wildlife and habitat conservation. Since then, Gary's artwork has been juried into the prestigious Art For The Parks Top 100 competition (1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002), 'Art and Animals' at the Bennington Center for the Arts in Vermont (2001, 2004), and the Pastel Society of America exhibition (1996). His paintings have received awards at the Phippen Museum of Western Art in 1999, 2000, and 2001, as well as a number of the top wildlife and western art shows in the nation. Gary's artwork has been featured in Wildlife Art, Southwest Art, Art of the West, Arizona Highways, Inform Art, U.S. Art and Art Business News magazines and Sotherby's of London auction house. He is represented in the finest galleries in Wyoming, Florida, Oregon, and California.

Gary's home/studio/gallery is in Encinitas, CA. Gary and his wife, Florence, are avid gardeners and share their house with three cats, Cleo, Merlin, and Kima, and their parrot, Jako."