A FEW WORDS ON ART

Inspiration for Andrew came from many sources, often reflecting upon themes from the ancient world: Homer’s Iliad, the legends of Gilgamesh, the Gods, the Sumerians, the story of the Queen of Sheba and her journey to Jerusalem to meet King Solomon, as well as Andrew’s own adventures in the Arabian deserts. But home life and modern life inspired him too.  Bull-leapers in the Camargue inspired a series of paintings, as did the white-paintedchurches of the Greek islands. 

Like the Cornish painters he admired, his work was intended for the domestic scale. Johnstone depicted Porthleven harbour near where he lived for over 30 years, reflecting daily life. He also painted a series of city traffic paintings, with the tongue-in-cheek titles of ‘I Love London’.  

Respected painter, friend and mentor Bryan Ingham often urged Andrew to concentrate on one type of painting for which to become known and celebrated but it was not in Andrew’s nature to stick to one style for long. Re-visiting earlier work often set him down a path travelled before, so themes ‘reappeared transformed and transmogrified many times’. He did not understand the desire to find a ‘winning formula’ on which to build brand recognition.  Once he had mastered what he wanted, he moved on to try something different. Curiosity drove him.

Though he was keen for feedback when he was pleased with a painting he was working on, he rarely spoke about his work once one finished and never wanted to hang pictures at home. He was in no hurry to show his work, wanting paintings to stay in the studio for some months after they were finished, allowing for a window of time for the ‘fallible eye’ to pass (see his article In Words).

Andrew understood the value of borrowing technique and idiom from the artists he admired. As well as learning a lot from Bryan Ingham, he found inspiration from other Cornish painters such as Roger Hilton, Ben Nicholson and William Scott.

He believed a work's ‘history’ should be seen in a painting; the evidence of the process and the hours of work that led to the final image.  The surfaces he painted upon were not clean white canvasses but had accumulated their own history before being used.  Boards could be around in the studio for years, lying under a work-in-progress, splattered with paint and mug stains, marked with the early scribbles of drawings and ideas before finally being committed to a painting. 

Andrew worked roughly, using large brushes, charcoal, sandpaper, scalpels, washes and thick paint.  The simplicity of a composition and block use of colour often belied the lengthy process and numerous techniques Andrew employed to achieve the final surface.   

Material things did not engage Andrew much – for him the simpler the lifestyle the better.  He was interested in ideas, in the small events of nature, the company of friends and long, often hilarious, discussions over a glass of wine.  It wasn’t the quality of the wine that mattered to him, but the quality of the people and the conversation.

Andrew could and did turn his hand to almost anything, but painting gave him the most fulfilment.

Throughout his long life he knew what he wanted to do, and he always did it successfully. Few people, perhaps, have the same self-belief and ability. In pursuit of artistic recognition, Andrew (and his family) at times faced great hardship but his resolve stood firm. To hell with what anyone else thought. His sense of humour, his detached outlook on life and his own talent carried him through.