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Black Sand White Spray Gray Sky Molten Red on Big Island

The island shuttle, Mokulele Airline, was a good experience all around, and as one never knows what to expect with travel institutions these days, we knew we had made the right decision at the counter; “oh, the weight of your suitcase is close enough. a couple pounds over… no big deal.” Too much wind/rain prevented the plane from landing at Hilo which delayed our flight since they had to return and would be using the same plane for the flight to our destination, Kona. They said we’d probably be the only 2 on it, but then at boarding, the plane was full, all nine seats. It was a windy and at times bumpy flight and as we were seated in the rear of the aircraft I could see couples reaching across the isle to hold hands during the turbulent bumps. But it was a good flight, and no  sooner had we left the lush, moist, green of Maui that we found ourselves flying over the dry, desert like, lava covered landscape as we approached the Kona airport. Continue reading →

Posted by Thomas Alix Johnston in Blog, Words, 1 comment

Maui: Light, Color, Space- November 2017

Maui, as always, was and is beautiful, from the moment you get off the plane and walk into the moist, fragrant air, combined with the quality of light, color, and space. As a visual artist, it is almost too easy to see beauty everywhere you turn, but of course easy is deceptive and there are many challenges to making art that is more than pretty pictures. Continue reading →

Posted by Thomas Alix Johnston in Blog, Words, 0 comments

The Art Institute of Chicago – October 2017

The Woman’s Board Grand Staircase – Art Institute of Chicago

As I’ve written before, there is always something good, something exciting, something sublime, something challenging, to see at The Art Institute of Chicago. Since there is such a wealth of riches, Continue reading →

Posted by Thomas Alix Johnston in Blog, Words, 1 comment

Fifty Years Ago – June 1967

Yes, it was fifty years ago, if not on this exact day, it was in this month during June 1967 that this picture was taken.

I had just made the lithograph shown in the photo, two states of its progress. It takes its title “Twentieth Century Fox with a Fantastic Plastic Four Speed Box” from a mash-up of music, pop, and car culture, and was the last print I made in California. It was hand drawn on stone, bleed printed with two transparent colors over black, on 15” x 11” Rives BFK in an edition of 20. Continue reading →

Posted by Thomas Alix Johnston in Blog, Words, 2 comments