User:Andrew d Johnstone

Andrew Duncan Johnstone. Artist, British. July 7th, 1962. Born Accrington, Lancashire, UK. Muralist and trompe l'oeil artist now living in Oakland, California

Early Life
Growing up in the Northern English town of Accrington, Lancashire he was the son of Bernard Joseph Johnstone and Gladys Johnstone and the brother of Lynn Johnstone (Wood). His love of art, science and history was largely shaped by his father Bernard, a fireman and former mayor.

Burning Man.
Johnstone attended his first Burning Man Festival in 1998 and described the experience as a "graduation" as an artist. By 2001 he had started work on "Virtual Playa", an interactive 3d computer Burning Man built around Microsoft Flight Sim. Users could navigate the scenery by day or night and immerse themselves in several layers defined by year, visiting art, Man and temples. In 2005 Johnstone was approached by Burning Man's legendary designer and architect Rod Garrett and abandoned the work on Virtual Playa to work on "Burning Man Earth", an ongoing effort to make Burning Man's Black Rock City more accessible to all, and to create a complete and enduring digital record. The project is an interrelated set of systems which encompass mapping, communications, imagery, and other data.