Manahawkin Shell
Beach Haven Park - Comcast |
Kathy Johnston is South
Jersey artist best known by her wildlife paintings made popular by
her marine life posters for the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine
Research Reserve, The Edwin B. Forsythe Reserve and the New Jersey
Division of Fish and Wildlife Artificial Reef Program. Her series
“Castillos De Animales” (animal castles) are animal totems in paint,
with one animal standing on the back of another.Titled
“The Freedom Clam in Qua H.O.G. Heaven”. (H.O.G. stands for Harley
Owners Group.) It features two pigs riding a Harley motorcycle, one
tattooed with Clams ‘R’ U.S. An American flag is prominent, the tour
bag is filed with clams, seagulls hold the title in a banner and the
Barnegat lighthouse appears in the distance. On one shell, the hogs
are coming towards us; on the back shell, we eat their dust. This
giant clam is sure to be a runaway success!
Kathy was also commissioned by Comcast to paint
their clam.
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For about ten years she studied
commercial fishing vessels in Port Norris and Bivalve on the
Delaware River for her paintings. Then she started scuba
diving and painted fish for ten years. When she moved to
Pennsylvania she painted farms, barns and antiques.
Recently, the Woman’s Board of the
Pennsylvania Division of the American Cancer Society picked
Johnston as their 2006 Distinguished Artist and she painted
scenes of Philadelphia in the snow as their greeting cards.
Now, back home in Sweetwater, she
continues to explore painting Pine Barrens locals, animal
totems and since becoming a Harley motorcycle-owner;
painting portraits of Harley owners with their bikes.
Obviously, Johnston is a versatile
artist and had much to choose from for her giant quahog
clam. She choose a Harley qua “hog” theme knowing that her
sponsor was Bob Storher, owner of the Gulf Gasoline station
on Route 72 and that the clam would be seen by millions of
motorists. |
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