Tofino Artist Gail Johnson

Born in Boston Gails interest in art started as a teen when she studied at Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, NY. She later moved to Canada to take courses at Toronto's Ontario College of Art. Gail moved to Nanaimo with her husband where she furthered her art education at Malaspina University College. Although she continued drawing and painting, her main focus became the creation of their family's successful organic farm and market business. With the sale of the family business in 2001, and her two children grown, Gail returned to her first passion and has been painting full time since.

Gail works mainly in acrylics and oils on canvas, as well as watercolor and pastels. Confident stroke and bold, color saturated palette often define her acrylics and oils, whereas her work in pastels is mostly seen in large, sensitively rendered life drawings. Gail paints intuitively, often referencing imagery inspired by her farming life, her proximity to Vancouver Island's impressive coastline, her favourite fly fishing locations and travels, and her love for all things growing. "I feel privileged to have so much to paint - such beauty and rich, grounded experiences to draw from. I follow my brush... and taste the color."

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View Gails art at the Shorewind Gallery in Tofino.