Swan

September 13, 2022  /  Michael J. Johnson

Swan

September 12, 2022

M. Kelm

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Socrates:

“You seem to think me inferior to the swans in prophecy. They sing before too, but when they realize that they must die they sing most and most beautifully, as they rejoice that they are about to depart to join the god whose servants they are. But men, because of their own fear of death, tell lies about the swans and say that they lament their death and sing in sorrow. They do not reflect that no bird sings when it is hungry or cold or suffers in any other way, neither the nightingale nor the swallow nor the hoopoe, though they do say that these sing laments when in pain. Nor do the swans, but I believe that as they belong to Apollo, they are prophetic, have knowledge of the future, and sing of the blessings of the underworld, sing and rejoice on that day beyond what they did before. As I believe myself to be a fellow servant with the swans and dedicated to the same god, and have received from my master a gift of prophecy not inferior to theirs, I am no more despondent than they on leaving life.”

[section 85 of  Plato’s PHAEDO, Translated by G.M.A Grube]

Music featured is The Swan composed by Camille Saint-Saëns and sung by Clara Rockmore

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Sparrows in the Middle Air (study)

August 05, 2022  /  Michael J. Johnson

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Sparrows in the Middle Air (study)

26” x 16”

Oil on Canvas

July 2022

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Composed this small study of blurry sparrows in flight. Shifting into this very reduced painting style feels vulnerable, and causes me to reflect on how previous painting styles I have practiced resulted in work that is very guarded; knights in full armor. With the sparrows I tried to not be too fussy and just let the brushstrokes be what they are. This small work is a study for a slightly larger work I am doing of the sparrows in the “middle air”. The more time I spend contemplating the birds the more work I envision making. Hoping this is the first piece in a repetition of paintings yet to be.

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The Golden Bough

August 05, 2022  /  Michael J. Johnson

The Golden Bough

60” x 40”

Oil on Canvas

(2019-2022)

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I finished the Golden Bough a couple months ago. I’ve been waiting patiently for it to thoroughly dry before varnishing, framing and photographing properly. For now I thought it would be good to post here as it dries and then post again after varnishing and framing.

In the poetics of Virgil’s Aeneid, “The Golden Bough” is a branch from a sacred tree that allows safe passage through the underworld. In book 6, Aeneas visits Apollo’s seer, the prophetess Sibyl who becomes Aeneas’ guide for crossing into the kingdom of death. The Sibyl tells Aeneas about the golden bough, to be found in the sacred grove of Diana; an alien branch within the order of nature, glowing with a discolored aura. Aeneas in anxiety begins searching the forest - in vain. His goddess mother, Venus, sends two doves that guide him to the tree. In the painting the two illuminated lights felt like an homage to the twin doves. Aeneas takes the death-journey to find the shade of his father and speak to him face-to-face. His father shows Aeneas the vision of his destiny.

I worked on this painting for about 3 years. I took the photo that was my reference 7 years ago. I had recently moved into a new apartment in Ocean Grove. The day I took the photo my family dog had died. At night when I got back to my apartment I decided to take a walk and brought my camera. It was early spring. When I saw the globes illuminating the budding tree I stopped in my tracks. The one globe with the light out seemed to suggest the realm of the dead. I felt myself wavering at the threshold for a moment while I took the photo.

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This was my painting set up: a wall in the kitchen of my apartment

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The Armour of Light

June 23, 2022  /  Michael J. Johnson

The Armour of Light is now hanging at Red Bank Design Center. Thank you Jill Ricci & Jenn Hampton for the invitation to participate and for your continued support of my artwork.

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I painted this work 2 years ago, in June of 2020. At the time I was committed to a daily studio practice, working in a basement of an abandoned liquor store and engaged in all-out spiritual warfare. With my awareness tuned to the totality, I worked in isolation, my method of both fighting and protecting myself was to produce art. The act of creation is an act of resistance. An old friend @maxnova once shared with me the idea that one could visualize a pyramid around the body as a protective shield, the act of holding the pyramid in place with one’s awareness has the tendency to strengthen one’s posture and restore one’s agency in an atmosphere of negative energy. While producing this work I was in the daily habit of reading the New Testament and took the title from a passage in Paul’s letter to the Romans.

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“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

(Paul the Apostle, Romans 14:11-14, KJV)

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The Calling of the Artist

April 23, 2022  /  Michael J. Johnson

I typed up some pages from my notebooks of the past few weeks and edited them to be presentable. Been very committed to painting each night and I jot notes as thoughts emerge while I work. I went and reread some Kierkegaard and Heidegger to help give some clarity and vocabulary to the communication.

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5

November 26, 2021  /  Michael J. Johnson

5 pyramids for Ryleigh’s 5th birthday. Since my niece turned 1, I have given her golden pyramids each year for her birthday. This year she turned 5, and this is the collection growing on her bedroom wall.

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