We have great pleasure in presenting the work of Stuart Johnson (pages 12-15), who won the LP Award at our TALP Open competition 2021. In an exhibition of outstanding work at Patchings Art Centre last summer, the painting of his son, Climbing Day, won unanimous praise from the judges. His passion for painting shines through every portrait as does his need to portray the emotion behind his subject and his response to it. He explains, ‘I am intrigued by the features of a face and how small variations can make a massive difference when painting a subject. I like working on the colours of the skin and the subtlety of skin tones. I am also interested in translating the different types of looks that people give you into a painting when it’s difficult to get the exact likeness right.’
Stuart leads a busy working life as a university lecturer and, like many of us, doesn’t have a lot of time to paint. He finds his weekly art classes invaluable, as they allow him time to focus on painting and, although they often cover subjects that he’s not interested in, he recognises the value in learning the skills behind painting each subject. ‘As I see portraits as landscapes of the face, so painting landscapes only helps me to paint portraits,’ he says. I hope his work and words inspire you to find your subject to paint and enter your own original work to this year’s competition (full details on pages 16-17).