BRATTLEBORO — Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts, 183 Main St., presents “Dappled Light,” an 80-year retrospective of paintings and prints by artist, teacher, and neighbor Homer Johnson.
Born in 1925, Johnson began drawing and painting in elementary school and was able to pursue his passion until his death in 2020 at age 95.
As described in a news release, “He was always fascinated with movement and light, and his gestural watercolor and ink drawings of dancers, angels, or models demonstrate his proficiency and exquisite draftsmanship.”
“The essence of what I am searching for is in the movement,” wrote Johnson. “Light plays an important role in my work as well, by illuminating the movement. My work often involves figure groupings, such as mother and child themes or dancer themes. These ideas have been filtered through memory and reconstructed in the present.”
“My years in Vermont have shown me that the same search for light and movement can be generated by landscape painting,” Johnson continued.
After serving in the Army as a cartographer, Johnson spent several years as a commercial artist, designing boxes for chocolate bunnies and the like, before joining the faculty at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and dedicating his life to painting and teaching.
Johnson experimented with many media but soon gravitated to acrylics and watercolors. He loved taking walks in the Vermont woods, or just gazing out the window, and he drew inspiration from the dappled light and forms he found in nature. His work is widely acclaimed for its lyrical quality, clarity, and depth.
The exhibit runs through Sunday, Aug. 15.