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Dorothy Johnston: Meg Manderschied Professor Catlin-Dupuy Composition Semester 2 6 April 2006 The Message Hidden in the Fruit When viewing Dorothy Johnston’s watercolor painting entitled, “Fruit and Flowers,” audiences can see a vast array of colors displayed throughout the entire 18” by 24” painting. “Fruit and Flowers” reminds me of a picnic table setting on a warm spring day. Artist Christopher Finch stated, “Watercolor is used to describe painting with water-soluble pigments on a suitable surface, usually paper. Prior to use, the pigments are suspended in a solution of glue or gum” (9). The medium Johnston chose to work from was watercolor on paper canvas. Naturalism is displayed in this painting because the fruit and flowers actually represent objects that appear in nature. This naturalistic work appears to reproduce parts of the visible world. The composition of this painting is rather simplistic. In the foreground of the painting, spectators can view grapes, strawberries, an apple, an orange and a pear all sitting out on a table. This table is covered by a white linen tablecloth. Sitting on the table, behind the various fruits, we can see a grouping of daisy flowers still placed in the planting pot. The table that holds the fruit and flowers is assembled outside. We know this because the sky is viewed behind the table in deep colors of blue, indigo, and violet with a splash of vivid yellow. Johnston has scaled all objects in her painting to be approximately the size of the actual fruit and flower bundles. Naturalism is displayed by this. The entire piece of artwork is covered in paint from corner to corner. The only white we view is from the tablecloth and in the daisy flowers. All lines painted by Johnston are curved. The only semi-straight line we can view is the line where the table meets the sky. This forms a horizontal line about halfway up the painting. The objects in “Fruit and Flowers,” are all balanced rather well. The fruit is evenly spread out on the table, with the grapes located in the center. The daisy pot is off to the left side of the painting. This composition creates an overall easy feeling for the viewer. Nothing is overwhelming this way. Johnston uses many complementary colors in her painting. Starting at the center lower portion of the painting we can see luscious purple grapes, alongside a green pear, a reddish-greenish colored apple, vibrant red strawberries, and many small white daisies with thick green leaves. In an email sent by Johnston, she stated, “I love to grab attention and then let color and boldness react with the viewer. I hope to express a moment’s feeling of happiness. My paintings are often called ‘happy’ paintings” (Re: Hello Again!). These feelings are expressed through Johnston’s ability to incorporate vibrant colors in her paintings. By creating colorful, lively paintings, Johnston is subconsciously conveying the universal message of happiness. Many objects that Dorothy Johnston has painted in this watercolor piece symbolize and encompass different historical references. From A Dictionary of Symbols, the word “fruit” actually has a traditional symbolism of representing the Origin of Life. Fruit is also a symbol of earthly desires (Cirlot 115). The word “fruit” earned this mark because the Origin is related to the fruit’s seeds, which are located in the center of the fruit. Johnston has incorporated this historical reference in her painting by revolving it around fruit, which happens to be located across the center of the table. The connotation for the word, “Flower,” was also found in A Dictionary of Symbols. This dictionary stated, “Different flowers usually have separate meanings, but, as so often happens, flower-symbolism is broadly characterized by two essentially different considerations: the flower in its essence, and the flower in its shape. By its very nature it is symbolic of transitoriness, of Spring and of beauty” (Cirlot 109). This gives viewers another reason to believe that the painting was meant to be serene and capture the spirit of nature’s natural magnificence. By nature, the flower grows and eventually dies, usually rather quickly. The caption, “Flower,” in author Impelluso’s book Nature and Its Symbols states, “In the iconographic tradition of the five senses, smell is sometimes represented as a floral arrangement. Since antiquity, the image of the flower has been associated with the notion that both life and beauty are short-lived. These themes find expression above all in the genre of floral still lifes, which became particularly popular during the seventeenth century” (74). “A Guide to Imagery,” found in the book, Nature and Its Symbols, provides information about not only floral history in paintings, but also touches on the symbolism held within individual types of fruit. In this chapter we note that, “scattering flowers brings the first light of day” (Impelluso 74). In short, this means that flowers are connected with the coming of dawn. Johnston might have painted this picture with the notion that day’s break was on the rise, and the sun was just coming up. The sun is what casts the shadows on the fruit, and also makes cloudy waves in the sky very colorful. Dorothy Johnston has painted a piece of artwork that probably holds many more meanings than she was aware of. The last main point that the section, “A Guide to Imagery,” mentions is the fact that “the image of a flower evokes the future birth of the fruit” ( Impelluso74). This sentence ties the two main objects, fruit and flowers, into the painting perfectly by saying that one creates the other. The symbolism held within individual types of fruit is also discussed in “A Guide to Imagery,” found in the book, Nature and Its Symbols (Impelluso 74). This section starts off mentioning the historical references portrayed by the orange: “originally from the Far East, the orange has always been a favorable symbol and represents paradise in numerous cultures” (Impelluso 141). Every symbol found related to these particular flowers and fruits have seemingly made reference to peaceful, happy times. Dorothy Johnston has created this feeling through use of composition and color in her watercolor artwork. Another piece of fruit viewed in Johnston’s painting is an apple. Apples usually represent love. Nature and Its Symbols relates the apple to a biblical reference stating, “ In some still lifes representing a sumptuous table, it is not hard to perceive, amid the other objects and food, one or more apples, sometimes with clear signs of decay, intended as an allusion to Original Sin” (Impelluso 149). In the painting, “Fruit and Flowers,” the apples are actually barely ripe which could mean the opposite, that these apples are a symbol of redemption and salvation. Lucia Impelluso, author of “A Guide to Imagery,” also made reference to the pear. Impelluso writes, “The pear is an ancient and sacred fruit which is usually given an auspicious meaning because of its characteristic sweet taste. The fruit was associated with Venus because the broad lower part suggests the female womb. The sweet fruit is customarily viewed in a positive light and may allude to the sweetness of virtue” (154). Strawberries are the last fruits viewed in Johnston’s painting. Impelluso notes that, “strawberry plants are commonly considered a flower of the Earthly Paradise. Strawberries represent spontaneity and generally ripen in the spring” (159). Coincidentally, the fruits that are found in the painting, “Fruit and Flowers,” are all spring fruits that represent symbols of happiness, serenity, spontaneity and peace. In a personal email Dorothy Johnston said, “If the painting fits into any movement, impressionism is probably it. My paintings are often called bright, splashy, and colorful….folks ask: What makes you paint with such vivid color and what makes them so spontaneous looking? I think it comes from working in the commercial field. When a client came in the door, he wanted the job NOW! We learned to do things quickly and spontaneously. When you do stuff like that, it looks impressionistic” (RE: Hello Again!). This explains why her watercolor paintings are so bright with colors, and yet leave room for the imagination to dream. Many painters say that spontaneity is key to creating an effective painting, and is especially important when creating watercolor. Christopher Finch, author of American Watercolors, stated, “Painting in watercolor is unpredictable. The expert watercolorist learns how to take advantage of the accidents of the medium, so that a blot can be transformed into an object. In watercolor, spontaneity is everything. The artist must learn to improvise, which he can do effectively only with experience” (9). This experience is something that Dorothy Johnston has. Johnston was trained at the University of Colorado and Texas Tech. She has worked alongside well known artists such as Ken Hosmer and Gauguin, teaching numerous workshops. The watercolor painting, “Fruit and Flowers,” was a classroom demo and turned out so well that Dorothy Johnston decided to place it in her “to sell” file. Johnston now teaches at colleges and universities world-wide. Her experience continues to grow. Linda Ferber, author of Masters of Color and Light: Homer, Sargent, and the American Watercolor Movement, writes, “ In the 1870’s and 1880’s, artists’ societies prompted watercolors as attractive and decorative alternatives to oils, successfully elevating them to the mainstream of American art. Based in New York City, this American watercolor movement paved the way for larger, more seriously received exhibition watercolors, and for a broad turn-of-the-century effort by public institutions” (8). Although it may sound like anyone could paint with watercolor, working with watercolor is a uniquely challenging medium. Painting with watercolors is a “classic technique, perfected in England during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which calls for the pigment to be applied in a series of transparent washes that allow light to be reflected from the surface of the paper through the layers of color” (Finch 9). Dorothy Johnston’s paintings look like she has completed them without any trouble. Many people overlook the difficulties that go into creating watercolor artwork, because they look great when they are finished. Dorothy Johnston has created many fabulous watercolors throughout her lifetime. She now works as a retired artist, while traveling around the world as a part-time professor, teaching different cultures of students her form of artwork. Ferber made a great concluding point, “Less often displayed than oils because of their sensitivity to light, watercolors nevertheless have enjoyed a lively, complex history” (8). This lively, complex history can be viewed through Dorothy Johnston’s watercolor “Fruit and Flowers.”

Works Cited

Cirlot, J. E. A Dictionary of Symbols. 2nd Ed. New York: Philosophical Library Inc, 1972. Ferber, Linda S. and Barbara D. Gallati. Masters of Color and Light: Homer, Sargent, and the American Watercolor Movement. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1998. Finch, Christopher. American Watercolors. New York: Abbeville P, 1986. Impelluso, Lucia. “A Guide to Imagery.” Nature and Its Symbols. Ed. S. Zuffi. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004. Johnston, Dorothy. “Re: Hello Again!” Email to Meg Manderschied. 9 March 2006.