Part 5

Returning to Harrogate, Johnny met Beverley, who became his second wife.  Over the next ten years, her unstinting support and encouragement provided Johnny with an environment that enabled him to work and travel.

Gradually a pattern of working began to form.  ‘When I’m working in the field, it is reality,’ Johnny emphasises, ‘and I am a topographical artist – I observe and record what is in front of me – it is the same for figurative work.  I probably spend about twenty per cent of my time doing this kind of work – and it is absolutely essential.’

Portugal 9c

In early 1993, Johnny was commissioned, by Harrogate’s Gallery Emeritus, to make a tour of Spain and Portugal and record the journey in drawings and watercolours, for an exhibition on his return.  John’s wanderings lead him to the remote, mountainous Beja region of southern Portugal.  His mounting fascination led him to accept an offer to rent a stone and mud house in this unmapped, sparsely populated region, known locally as the Pampa.  For a year, he experienced and painted life from another age, where the inhabitants lived in harmony with the environment, using farming methods little changed from medieval times.

Mayan Temple Wall

Further afield, he has visited the Mayan temples of Mexico and lately, the Buddhist temples of Thailand.  ‘Even though I’m something of a nomad,’ John reflects, ‘I always return to Yorkshire - it’s only when I’m here that I can reflect on my experiences there.’

Mayan Sun-and-Moon

Describing his creative development, Johnny explains, ‘I value the discipline and craft of landscape and portrait work - that’s how I began – through direct observation and painting, but it is through my abstracts that I find my expressive soul.

Cave

To John, this is a mysterious and spiritual realm, which he experiences profoundly and where he feels a close connection with primitive painters: the cave painters of our past; the tribal artists of today.  He goes on, ‘Our ancestors ventured deep into caves to make marks and express something - something spiritual, I believe.  Why go to all that trouble to draw down a black underground hole, where no one will venture without a struggle?  I feel a connection with those mark makers.  It doesn’t make any sense, but it is what I do, what I am.  Both my grandfathers were underground - miners.  Maybe that’s why I’m underground too!’ he laughs.

African Queen

The abstracts develop intuitively and many glimmer with subtle luminosity, reflecting his experiences: as a traveller; of humanity past and present; of something intangible.  They line the walls and my eyes drift over them during pauses in conversation.  Some are geometric and block-like.  ‘Those were inspired by my trip to the Yucatan Peninsular,’ John elaborates.  ‘I am intrigued by pyramids and early artists.  I use many of their techniques in my paintings – this here,’ and he points to a zigzag border, ‘is the way the ancient Egyptians expressed water,’ transforming the image into a golden barge floating down the River Nile.

‘I have been told that I do not see things the ‘right way’, that I am deluded,’ John continues. ‘Maybe I do see things differently but that is not to say wrongly - one man’s reality is another’s delusion perhaps.  My Studio is a tardis and I can go anywhere.’

I can’t help but think that the Studio is the inside of the Envelope; or at least it is the place where Johnny’s subconscious and imagination are free to roam.

Way to the Temple

Each painting is an expression, which is unique to the circumstance of the artist. A painting is not simply the final image: it becomes a companion intimately associated in its own birth; a vessel which holds the story of the bond between creator and created.  Without the story, the painting is empty.

Johnny Middleton