Douglas Johnson lives to create with color. His work continues to explore new possibilities of water-based media: primarily watercolor, gouache and ink. 

​

Figures that have a living presence, landscapes that stretch out for miles, expressed in paintings made with a spare economy of swift marks. It is this gymnastic precision in Johnson's brushwork and unbridled use of saturated color that make his paintings so recognizable.

​

After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1991, Douglas continues to live in Baltimore. The landscapes he paints: in the mountains of Colorado, the dunes along the Gulf of Mexico, the woodlands of West Virginia, all return to his quaint studio where he does his own framing. He eagerly awaits having guests and models return to pose for him again, after the current Covid-19 crisis abates. 

​

Johnson selected these pieces for the Naked Truth exhibit because of their kinetic energy, a liveliness beneath the surface. The life-force we can feel ourselves carrying when we feel our strongest.