Exhibition Notes

The following exhibition notes have been reproduced with kind permission of Beth Parker, co-owner of Lyghtesome Gallery, 166 Main Street, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, B2G 2B7. Lyghtesome Gallery has represented the work of Linda Johns for many years.

Over the last twenty-five years, artist, author and naturalist Linda Johns has expressed her unique wisdom through paintings, drawings, linocuts, sculpture in wood, whale bone, and clay, as well as seven published books. Her inspirations flow from the wild places, creatures and feathered friends that encircle her life in rural Nova Scotia. As a professional artist, Johns is primarily self-taught, pursuing her personal exploration in art history and analysis, mythology, symbolism and metaphysics. Her work has been shown in numerous galleries in Canada and is represented in private, public and corporate collections in the United States, Canada and Great Britain.

Linda Johns expresses her unique wisdom with grace and visionary power. She draws her viewers into a world where the fundamental forces of destruction and renewal, of rending chaos and of healing emergence, are played out in archetypal symbolic terms, in spiritual, ecological, and psychological realms. As layers of meaning are revealed in the interweaving of familiar forms, such as birds, whales, trees and shells, the viewer is afforded his or her own private renewal, a kind of wordless understanding of the elements which govern nature, and thus our lives. In the interplay between light and dark, an inherent relief quality of the linocut print, Johns builds striking, complex patterns with positive and negative reversals throughout her images. The balance of this matrix of interacting forces occurs when all energies are fused as light.

It is impossible not to notice the predominance of birds in Linda Johns' work, whether in linocut, engraving, sculpture or on large acrylic canvas. For many years Johns shared her studio/home in the woods with a robin named County, who provided the inspiration not only for her art but for Sharing a Robins Life, the chronicle of an unusual friendship. A variety of birds still share their lives with Johns, initiating a stream of imagery for her work.

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Catalogue Excerpt

The following is an excerpt from a catalogue written by Beth Parker for an exhibition of Linda Johns' work held at the Lyghtesome Gallery June 1-30, 1999.

Lyghtesome Gallery's annual exhibit of recent work by Linda Johns opens on Tuesday, June 1st at the gallery on the east end of Main Street, Antigonish. The show is entitled From a Woodland Studio and features acrylic paintings on paper and sculpture in clay, whalebone and soapstone, all produced within the last year by nationally known artist, writer and naturalist Linda Johns. This visionary artist, whose unique life and artwork have been featured on CBC and Discovery Channel documentaries, explores the enduring invisible forces at work within the visible world, integrating archetypal symbolism with her knowledge and sensitivity to the energies and life-forms of nature.

This body of recent work, as the title of the suggests, exemplifies the importance of the natural world as the source of inspiration for Linda Johns' life and work. A keen and vigilant observer, Johns records daily both in drawing and in writing, impressions and information she gains from her interactions with the surrounding landscape, with wild creatures, with plant forms, with weather, and with the seasons. From these extensive notebook chronicles, come finished ideas for paintings and episodes to bring to her written narratives. Whether wind off a Newfoundland cliff face, sculpted sandstone formations in the Minas Basin, or daily interactions at home with a Japanese quail, Linda Johns meticulously records what she sees, hears, and feels, then translates the experience through her own unique creative voice.

Linda Johns writes about this body of work:

"All around us, familiarity masks mystery. We see a stark, dead tree standing isolated in silvery splendour. But what mysterious forces created the twisting thrusts of the trunk, the whorled texture, the rigid branches pointing like weather vanes?

These works attempt to mingle the known with the unknown - visible hills and driftwood with invisible whale energies; trees and rocks with the mysterious shaping and surging of tides and winds.

And throughout everything flows the winged spirit that unites us all."

The title of Linda Johns' 1999 show is derived from the title of her third book, For the Birds, Nature Notes from a Woodland Studio, due to be published this fall by McClelland and Stewart. For the Birds weaves humorous anecdotes of memorable bird personalities with vivid observations of the natural world seen through the passing seasons.

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Curriculum Vitae

Profession

• Full-time Artist, Author and Naturalist

Formal Studies

• 1964-65 Ontario College of Art
• 1987-80 Schneider School of Fine Art, Studying directly with Carl Schaefer, R.C.A. D.LIT., O.C.

Informal Studies

• Continual Independent Study in Art History, Analysis, and Technique

Solo Exhibits

• Lyghtesome Gallery, Antigonish, Annual Solo Exhibits, June 1975-2000
• Bloomfield Gallery; St. FXU Antigonish, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1993
• Gallery 448, New Glasgow, 1980, 1981, 1994, Aug. 2000
• Mount Allison University, Sackville, N.B. 1981, 1988
• Acadia University, Wolfville, 1985
• Nova Scotia Credit Union Display, Sydney Credit Union, N. Sydney Credit Union, Antigonish Credit Union, September 1986
• Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, P.E.I., 1987
• University College of Cape Breton, 1987
• Entitlement Booksellers, Halifax, 1987
• Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, Sackville, N.B., 1984, 1988
• Angus L. MacDonald Library, St., F.X. University, Antigonish, N.S., 1988, 1989, 1990
• Fraser Galleries, Halifax, N.S., 1990, 1994
• Bergengren Credit Union Lobby Art Display Program 1986, 1992-1996
• The Ballroom Gallery, The Universalist Unitarian Church, Halifax, N.S. , 1993
• The A Gallery, Truro, N.S., 1993
• St. Martha's Convent, Motherhouse, Bethany, Antigonish, N.S., 1995
• City Centre Atlantic, "Arising Awareness", Spring Garden Rd., Halifax, N.S., 1995
• Art Connection/Watermark Gallery, 81 Victoria E., Amherst, N.S., 1996
• Robert Langen Art Gallery, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, April, 1997
• Lighthouse Gallery, 587 Main St., Moncton, N.B., October 1997
• Immaculata Hall, St. FXU., Antigonish, November 1999
• 1889 Gallery, Fraser Cultural Centre, Tatamagouche, 1993, 2000
• Heartwood Bakery & Cafe, 6250 Quinpool Road, Halifax, N.S., Nov./Dec. 2000

Dual and/or Group Exhibits

• Maritime Art Assoc. Juried Exhibit, 1978, Halifax
• N.S. Festival of the Arts, 1978, Halifax
• Lyghtesome Gallery, Antigonish, 1978-1999
• Parlour Gallery, Halifax, 1980
• Gallery 448, New Glasgow, 1980-81, 1983
• Bloomfield Gallery, St. F.X. University, Antigonish, 1983, 1999
• Signatures Gallery of Fine Art, Truro, 1984
• Willows Gallery, Canning, 1984
• 1889 Gallery, Tatamagouche, 1984, 1985, 1993
• Market House Gallery, Annapolis Royal, 1985
• Acadia University Art Gallery, Wolfville, 1989, 1992
• Nato Foreign Minister's Conference Exhibition, World Trade & Convention Centre, Halifax, N.S., Dept. of Culture & Recreation, May, 1986
• Nova Scotia Printmakers Assoc., S. F. X. Univ. Art Gallery, Antigonish, N.S., Nov., 1988, 1990
• Impressions of Nova Scotia, St. Francis Xavier University Art Gallery, 1994
• Contemporary Nova Scotia Printmaking, Seagate Gallery, Dundee, Scotland, 1996
• Nova Scotia Printmakers Association "Multiple Choices" Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, N.S., 1996

Traveling Exhibits

• Maritime Art Assoc. (National) 1978-79
• N.S. Art Bank Juried Selection (Atlantic Provinces) 1983
• Contrasting Visions (N.S.) 1985-86
• Celebration '85 (N.S.) 1985
• Solo Works, Atlantic Provinces, 1987
• Multiple Choices Engramne, Quebec City, Quebec, 1997
• 2000 Marion McCain Atlantic Art Exhibition, The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, N.B., 2000-2001

Representative Galleries

• Lyghtesome Gallery, Antigonish, N.S. (Exclusive Business Agent)
• N.S. Art Sales & Rental, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, N.S.

Public & Corporate Collections

• Town Of Antigonish, N.S. 1977
• Nova Scotia Art Bank, 1980, 1990
• St. Francis Xavier University, 1980, 1988, 1990
• Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison Univ., 1980, 1988
• PANCANADIAN Petroleum (Calgary) Collection of Canadian Art, 1980
• Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 1980, 1989, 1990
• Acadia University Art Gallery, Wolfville, N.S., 1985
• Nova Scotia Government Caucus, 1987
• Gammco Lumber Ltd., Scotsdale, N.S., 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990
• St. Louis Church, Louisdale, N.S., 1989
• Atlantic Christian Training Center, Tatamagouche, N.S., 1989
• Bergengren Credit Union, Antigonish, N.S., 1989
• Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ont., 1999
• Numerous Private Collections throughout Canada, the United States and Great Britain

Publications

• Included in Group Folio 'Of Eight' Visual Arts N.S. 1979
• Lyghtesome: Fine Art Calendar of 4 N.S. Artists 1980, 1982
• Contrasting Visions Catalogue, 1985
• Nova Scotia Art Bank Catalogue, March 4-May 16, 1983
• Cover and Feature Article, Visual Arts News, June/July 1986
• Review, ArtsAtlantic, Summer/Fall 1987
• Folio of Prints, Antigonish Review, 1986
• Cover of Prospice, International Literary Quarterly, England, 1987
• "Additive Color in The Paintings of Linda Johns" by Tom Roach, The Colourist, January, 1989, volume 16 #1, Pg. 3-5
• Cover & Inside Cover Page, Intervox, Spring 1988
• Touching Water, Touching Light, 1990 Editioned book of linocut prints and poetry by Linda Johns
• Reproduction of Linocut, AGNS Journal, Volume 8-1 January-June, 1991, Page 18
• Spiritus, 1992, Edition book of Linocut prints and poetry by Linda Johns
• Sharing A Robins Life, Nimbus Press, Halifax, N.S., 1993
• In The Company of Birds, Nimbus Press, Halifax, N.S., 1995
• The Eyes of The Elders, Lyghtesome, Antigonish, N.S., 1995
• For the Birds: Nature Notes from a Woodland Studio, McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, Ont., 1999
• Wild and Woolly, McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, Ont., 2000
• Numerous reviews in the Chronicle Herald, Halifax, Casket, Antigonish, ArtsAtlantic, Charlottetown, P.E.I., Atlantic Book Review & announcements

Media

• Radio: CBC Interviews;
• Elizabeth Haynes & Bob Bancroft, Radio Noon, June 23 & 24, 1993
• Elizabeth Haynes & Bob Bancroft, Radio Noon, December 1995
• Brian Sutcliffe, Weekend Morning, July 6, 1993
• Costas Halavrezos, Maritime Noon, Jan. 1999, Oct. 6, 1999
• CJFX, Interview with Rhonda Howard, Antigonish, Nov. 24, 1999, Dec.6, 2000

Television

• CBC Sunday Arts Entertainment "Towards the Light; The Art of Linda Johns" - Aired originally January 9, 1994, several other times each year since.
• "Linda Johns (artist)" John & Janet Foster's Mini Documentary for Discover Channel, April 1996
• ATV:
• Alive at 5, Oct. 6, 1999
• Breakfast TV with Liz Rigley & Scot Boyd, October 19, 1999
• Global Afternoon Phone-in with Duane Lowe, October 19, 1999
• Vision TV with Leslie Choice

Medium

• Acrylic Painting on Canvas and Paper; Linocut prints, Wood Engravings and Stone Cuts in small Limited Editions; Ink Pen and Brush Drawings, Oil Pastel, Clay Sculpture, Stone, Wood and Whalebone Carvings both in Relief and in the Round.

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