Head Of The Herd Painting

"Being a painter is a way of life, you live and breathe art." Gary Johnson takes this philosophy to heart. He has traveled to many wild areas of the world, from Africa to Belize to North America's most beautiful wilderness areas, in his quest for a unique and inspiring image. In 2005, Gary won the Gold Medal Grand Prize in the Arts For The Parks Mini Top 100 competition, the highest honor one can receive for representational art in the United States. "This honor validated everything I have done in my life for my artistic development." Gary works primarily in oils and mixed media on handmade paper. His artwork has been juried into the prestigious Art For The Parks Top 100 competition (1996,1998, 2000, 2002 and 2005), winning the Mini Top 100 Grand Prize Gold Medal in 2005, Art and the Animal at the Bennington Center for the Arts in Vermont (2001, 2004, 2008 and 2009), and the Pastel Society of America exhibition (1996). His paintings have received awards at the Phippen Museum of Western Art in 1999, 2000, and 2001, as well as a number of the top wildlife and western art shows in the nation, including the Russell Auction, the Museum of Western Art, the Gilcrease Museum, the NatureWorks Art Show and the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition. Gary's artwork has been featured in exhibitions at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum's "Birds In Art" (2016) and the Art Renewal Center's "13th International ARC Salon Exhibition (2018). In 2005, Gary was selected as the Artist In Residence for the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and in 2012 he was selected as the Artist In Residence for Mesa Verde National Park. Gary's artwork has been featured in Western Art and Architecture, Western Art Collector, Wildlife Art, Southwest Art, Sporting Classics, Art of the West magazines and Sotheby's of London auction house. He is represented by fine art galleries in Montana, Colorado, and California.