My abstracts are part of a continuous flow of work; each new piece is influenced by the preceding painting. It either continues a direction or rebels against one in some way, shape or form. I work with sudden, impulsive, instinctual brush strokes that I depend on for my theme.

At a certain point I stand back and survey what’s happening and then begin to reshape, define, and harmonize in a more methodical approach. This stage takes time, and one has to give one’s intuitive side a chance to digest what direction one goes in next.

MISSION STATEMENT

My purpose in these paintings is to create works of art that transcend time, works that will be as relevant in 25 years as they are now in this moment. I use a painterly abstract style that conveys the spirit of man, the timeless theme of infinity contrasted with the maelstrom of daily circumstances and the strong horizon line along with spontaneous random forms. Some of the paintings are pure spontaneous expression rendered in a single session with only minimal reconsiderations. The others were done in several sessions resulting in much reconsideration and modifications. At this point in a painting, modification for me is an intellectual expression versus that intuitive burst of energy. The initial moment of paint-to-canvas, however, is intuitive, automatic. There is just a vague idea of where the painting will take me, a mood.

This series is the result of a 40 year love affair with painting, thousands of small abstract studies and only occasional outbursts of full-size abstract painting. The constant in my life has always been the small abstract study. But, here now, in these large paintings, I have found tremendous satisfaction. Those small abstract studies prepared me for the full bloom revelation of this moment in time.


Emmett Johns
Fish Creek, Wi
June 2007