“A lifetime of painting can be found within five or six miles of one’s home.”
This quote from American artist Andrew Wyeth held true throughout his 92 years of life in Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania.
For Laurencekirk watercolourist David E Johnston, his lifetime of painting continues to reside close to home.
The Mearns landscapes and seascapes have been the subject of David’s tonal paintings for his entire life.
His work has been collected worldwide and he has also been bestowed with prestigious awards.
David’s latest exhibition in Ellon’s Tolquhon Gallery is currently open to the public, his paintings showcasing the natural beauty of the north-east’s landscapes.
For him, there really is no place like home.
Early years
“Growing up in Laurencekirk was perhaps very much as you’d expect,” says David.
“It was very rural. It was also full of great freedoms; I had a happy childhood.”
David was the son of an amateur watercolourist. Yet, during his school years art rarely featured in his life.
It wasn’t until his teens when he went to study English at Aberdeen University that he first discovered an inkling for his artistic desires.
“When I was a student, I worked on the land and went to the tatties during the summer holidays,” David explains.
“I felt a very close kinship with the land and the landscape.
“While I was painting on the spot in ‘plein air’, I found that was a fantastic antidote to hours spent in the library reading for my studies.
“That was the point for me where I hoped that art could be something that I could do as a serious pursuit.”
Self-taught artist
Now retired, David was an English teach for more than three decades and he has been entirely self-taught as an artist.
“I couldn’t draw at first,” says David, “and I decided that if I really wanted to do this, I’d have to just get on with it and teach myself.
“By no means was it a case of just lifting the brush and it was all there – it wasn’t like that.
I didn’t think I had a great deal of talent at the time, to be frank
“But what I did have was a determination to paint.”
This determination has allowed David to “find his own voice” in his paintings.
“I’ve always aimed to develop slowly and explore different aspects of the local landscape,” he says.
Beauty all around
Field edges and thistledown are some of the humble subjects that David intricately explores in his work.
He illustrates how the Mearns has just as much to say as the Côte d’Azur, offering vivid and emotive artistic perspectives on the north-east’s landscapes.
“For me, the beauty of the landscape is to be found in a simple tangle of flowers, in the hedgerows, in a field or in the clouds along the hillside,” says David.
“I’ve never been one to go to scenic spots. I don’t romp about the countryside looking for picturesque Highland landscapes.”
Influences
Joan Eardley, of whom David recently wrote and published a personal tribute, was a well-known north-east artist who significantly influenced David’s local artistic ethos.
“I knew about Joan but I never met her as I was only 13 when she died,” says David.
“She could paint 10 different paintings from the same spot just by seeing different things.
“For about 30 years, I used to paint on the spot in the landscape.
“Nowadays, I just paint in the studio.”
Recognition
In 2017, David was inducted into the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW).
“It was a tremendous honour,” says David, “especially because very few of the membership are self-taught artists.
“To me, it means your peer group recognise your professionalism with your work, so I was over the moon with it.”
Earlier this year, he was also awarded the Sir William Gillies Award from the RSW for his landscape watercolour A Summer Place, The Mearns.
New exhibition
At his current exhibition in Ellon’s Tolquhon Gallery, which runs until September 25, David hopes to communicate what his work has always aimed to do: to explore what makes the Mearns such a beautiful landscape.
“I hope people come away with a sense of place and the uniqueness of our local landscapes,” he says.
I want it to be a celebration of ordinary things and I would hope my own voice would have something to say about the distinctive landscape
Unfazed by the allure of picturesque spots, David’s paintings are local masterpieces that are deeply embedded within the north-east landscapes.
His lifetime of painting has been found and cherished in the Mearns and he feels that his relationship with the north-east is something truly special.
“Having lived here my whole life as well as my family before me, I think that expresses my connection with the place,” he says.
“I would hope that I would communicate a love for the north-east landscape and my love for the land through my work – that’s the real message.”
David’s exhibition at Tolquhon Gallery concludes on September 25, open on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11am to 4pm, or by appointment.
