Ned Johnson Paintings

Ned Johnson was once described by his close friend, Australian poet John Anderson, as a ‘bird sheep child of the Mt Kolor stony rises’.

Ned grew up on a soldier settlement block at Minhamite in rural Victoria in the 1950s. He has raised five sons and worked for half a century in Melbourne as an educator but has always returned home several times a year to draw, paint and reconnect with his origins.

Images from the stony rises draw the observer into Ned’s world. Past and present, the intimate connection to land and respect for all its custodians are to be found there. Ned’s artworks are as much reflections on life as they are a record of a place. The landscape with its natural and constructed features is his inspiration. Fine brushstrokes and colour are used to map the terrain while the figures in the landscape are his medium for a deeper existential enquiry.

Children unaware go forward in a challenging environment.
The remnants left by past generations are reminders of our mortality.         Hope and joy are expressed in the soaring flight of the “Beautiful Corellas”.