Artwork copyright Alison Johnston. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.

Different Tacks, 1989

Alison Johnston
American (born 1956)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

About the Artwork

Different Tacks is part of artist Alison Johnston's body of paintings inspired by rural life on San Juan Island. After learning to sail, Johnston found visual interest and a fondness for sailboats. She notes that this piece "is about opposites; the pushing and pulling of desires, outside and inside, active and passive, tension and serenity, risk and fear. I love the weight of the pear as opposed to the delicate frailty of the caged canary. I try to paint what I live."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Washington State Arts Commission.

About the Artist

Painter Alison Johnston creates still life, landscape and narrative paintings inspired by the northwest environment and her travels abroad.

Johnston was born in Massachusetts and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Cornish Institute in Seattle in 1981. She is based on San Juan Island, in North Puget Sound, Western Washington.