Martin Johnsen notices the simple things in life. Despite how it sounds, it’s not an easy task. Most people don’t actually do it, he said.
Think about what’s around us every day: a gritty old sign, a crumbling building, the way the light reflects off an empty street. When Johnsen sees them, he sees art.
The scenes he spies on his daily dog walks or tricycle treks with his 4-year-old son inspired his latest exhibition, the Santa Maria series “Cityscapes Pastels,” on display at the Town Center Gallery.
“It’s all about pulling a bit out of an ordinary scene, things you would pass by and not notice,” he said. “They are things that are sort of invisible to some people.”
Johnsen moved to Santa Maria from Illinois with his family as a child. He attended art classes at Allan Hancock College and later went to work as a scenic artist for PCPA. He eventually got into framing and has been a picture framer for 15 years, working for several local shops.
He and his wife, Renee, have been active in the local art scene for many years. They’ve served as superintendents for fine arts and home arts for the Santa Barbara County Fair. Johnsen said not enough people get involved in the local art scene, and he encourages people whenever he can to display their talents in this particular area.
“Everybody flees north and south, but we need to have people here,” he said. “It’s not expensive to join the gallery—just get involved.”
Johnsen is not only involved locally, he finds his inspiration in specifically local places. In fact, he doesn’t even have to venture far from home for it to strike.
All the works in his current show reveal something in the vicinity of the gallery and are everyday places and objects. Three of the pieces, Vet’s Hall, Down the Street, and Rainy Morning represent the view from Johnsen’s front porch.
His work is done primarily in pastels, based on photographs. But his creations aren’t photo reproductions. Johnsen likes to take elements from various photos and merge them, as he did with Out Early: an angled view of a school, with part of a house and a telephone pole visible. He added a purple, cloudy sky from another photo because he liked the look. Splicing in weather from another day isn’t obvious, and it doesn’t typically raise viewers’ eyebrows. Other elements, however, prompt questions.
“People ask me, ‘Well, why did you even include the telephone pole?’” he said. “But it’s just one of those little things we never notice.”
Another such unnoticeable object stars in a painting of the old Bill’s Take Out sign on North Broadway. It’s practically an overlooked landmark, one Johnsen passes every day.
“When you create art that represents Santa Maria, everyone automatically assumes strawberries or tri tip, but there is so much more,” Johnsen said. “It’s all around.”
Arts Editor Shelly Cone never noticed that tree before. Has it always been there? Tell her at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 3-10, 2011.