A pen and ink drawing in the “Hauntings” collection by artist James “Jim” Johnson. Johnson is the featured artist at the Southside Art League Off Broadway Gallery in Greenwood, and his work will hang through Jan. 28.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The haunted beauty of the historic buildings materializes like a specter in black and white ink.
A stone angel shrouded in half shadows peers down from a rooftop. Foreboding darkness oozes from behind Victorian adornments. Gothic-arches windows hold secrets behind them.
Fantastical elements — steampunk airships, winged wraiths, a jack-o-lantern-faced figure — pop up in unexpected places in much of James “Jim” Johnson’s artwork.
“I see each of my drawings to be a setting for a story,” he said.
Johnson’s stunning pen and ink drawings enter the spotlight at the Southside Art League in January, as the Greenwood resident is the guest artist at the group’s Off Broadway Gallery. His work blends images of vintage houses and chuches — including a number of historic homes in Old Town Greenwood — with elements of fantasy and horror.
The exhibition is on display now, and lasts through Jan. 28.
“I hope that people who come out are entertained,” he said. “About the only thing that I can do well is drawing. I wish I was a good electrician or a good woodworker or a good plumber. But the only thing I can do well is draw.”
Though Johnson is relatively new to the style of drawing he’s currently working on, he has been involved in art for most of his life.
Johnson pinpoints his first foray into the world of art when he was a child in the early 1950s.
“My parents would take me to church on Sunday mornings, and they would give me a pencil and a piece of paper to keep me occupied,” he said. “That was the start for me.”
Growing up in Indianapolis, he attended Manual High School and studied with art teacher Robert Crawford, a noted area artist and board member of the Southside Art League. Johnson attended Herron School of Art after graduation, and was employed as an illustrator and finish artist at L.S. Ayres for seven years.
Following a stint doing freelance work, he worked for the Indianapolis Star and Indiananpolis News as an illustrator and designer for 19 years.
Once he retired, he had time to focus more on his drawing. He blended it with his lifelong love of fantasy and authors such as H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury and J.R.R. Tolkien.
“A few years ago, I started doing drawings that were old houses. I’d go out into the Fountain Square area, and then I branched out from doing old Victorian houses and old churches and put elements of fantasy in it,” he said.
The ornate architectural elements of those buildings fascinated him, and he wanted to capture the mysticism of the designs. Since moving to Greenwood a few years ago, he has incorporated the standout homes and structures in the Old Town area as well.
Other aspects of his work draws from Edward Burne Jones, a painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
“I’m very ecclectic,” he said.
Johnson’s exhibition opened to the public on Jan. 4, and will continued to be on display throughout January. He will host a reception for the public at the gallery on Jan. 13, where he will be available to interact with people while explaining his work. Light refreshments will be available.
“The only skill I have is drawing, and I think I’m pretty good at it,” he said.
