"The secret of contentment is to know how to enjoy what you have and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach."

I first started drawing in my early teens with pencils and inks.  A good friend and myself used to spend hours after school drawing comic book superheroes.  At school, aside from filling the margins of my notebooks with mini sketches, I took some extracurricular art classes.  My high school yearbook quote read "the true artist would rather let his wife and children go hungry rather than to forsake his calling" (or similar words to that effect).

When I got married and started working, my family life and work took precedent over my art.  I did manage to take a correspondence course with the Minneapolis School of Art.  This helped keep my artistic aptitude somewhat wetted even though I could not pursue this full time.

In the late 80's and early 90's, I had an opportunity to get back into painting and did so through a casual evening oil painting class held in an acquaintance's home.  My main inspiration was wildlife art, and in particular, I was influenced by Robert Bateman's style.  I did not fully get back into painting until  I retired from work.  At my wife's suggestion, I signed up for an acrylics class at the not-for-profit Forum Art Center here in Winnipeg.  As well as volunteering for various projects at the FAC, I was elected President of its Board of Directors in October 2009, a position I held from 2010-2015.   More recently I had the opportunity to travel to Italy and France with my daughter to participate in a couple of art retreats which were thoroughly enjoyable.

I like the versatility of working with acrylics but of late I have started doing some watercolors to expand my skill and knowledge.  

- Craig Johnstone