THE PAINTINGS OF DOUGLAS JOHNSON are as individual and enriching as is the life he has chosen for himself. Living in a beautiful, though always challenging, corner of New Mexico, he creates meticulously composed and painted worlds of wonder which enthrall the discerning viewer. Johnson paints in small formats, filled with astonishing detail and rendered in casein, a medium which permits him to achieve the precision and rich color which characterize his work.

He often creates a series of images, such as his recent paintings of flowers. His current work includes a number of birds, magical in detail and accurate enough to satisfy the most demanding ornithologist. These paintings feature lavish backgrounds, ranging from jungle-bound pre-Columbian ruins to an everyday scene depicting the re-plastering of his adobe studio by a northern New Mexican family.

Living in an area lacking in many of the amenities of modem life, Johnson refreshes himself and his work with frequent travels which inevitably provide new subjects for his paintings. In Mexico, Peru, Burma and Thailand, he found the handsome, brown-skinned people and exotic locales which have been a major source of inspiration for his work.

Johnson is an avid student of art history who acknowledges deriving inspiration from sources as varied as the works of the Old Masters Mantegna and Caravaggio, and Navajo artists Harrison Begay, Andrew Tsinajinme and Hoke Denetsosie. A recent painting titled The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, which is a tribute to Mantegna, points the way to his current preoccupation with Hispanic subjects.

Driving to Douglas Johnson's home, one passes through the small community of Abiquiu and is reminded of Georgia O'Keeffe, who also chose to five in this remote part of New Mexico, and her life dictum: "rake a space and fill it with beauty." In several recent works, Johnson has selected a horizontal rectangular space which he first divides with a beautiful fine.