“Below 66.5 Degrees South, No. 40” by Leslie Johnston

Growing up in Colorado, with the Rocky Mountains as my backyard, I developed an appreciation and respect for the beauty of nature and wild places. I derive inspiration for paintings from my journeys ranging from the deserts of Mongolia to the Tibetan Plateau to the rainforests of southeast Asia and Latin America eventually ending in my own backyard.

While not searching to paint a representative landscape, I explore the visual language of paint that provides metaphors for elements of being in such places. The medium used is primarily acrylic although I will use inks, oil bars, and graphite as required.

My latest series explores a recent journey below the Antarctic Circle. Through applying passages of blue and turquoise hues, creating phrases of marks, exploring the dialogue between motifs, and numerous rounds of editing, my memories of the sights, sounds, and movements of Antarctica are captured. Through abstraction, each painting enables the individual viewer to conjure the realms of their imagination.