Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 12/8/2021
CUMMINGTON – Oil painter Jeanne Johns begins a portrait, strangely enough, by talking.
“I pick people to have conversations with,” Johns, 82, said. “I like to do that, in combination with painting, because it creates a deeper conversation.”
Johns, who lives part of the year in the Netherlands, is world-renowned for her portraits. A small sample of her work will soon grace the Cummington Community House. This fifth showing of Johns portraits, “The Heart of the Hilltowns V,” will display 50 paintings, many of them of local people.
Johns doesn’t know precisely why having a conversation with her model creates a better portrait, but it does. She never knows what will be discussed, but seeks the essence of the person sitting before her; and the looking she does, and the talk, informs her paintings with a deeper insight. The two-hour conversation and painting session often leave both artist and model feeling satisfied and re-energized.
“It’s mostly about what concerns the other person,” Johns said. “We get into deep personal stuff. I think it happens because I’m looking so intently at that person. I’ve thought about this for so long. What is it about this? A portrait, you think you paint what’s there, the eyes, the nose, but the person sitting there is giving you something in the conversation. Basically, what is your life philosophy? What keeps you going in this time? I don’t know how it works, it’s a kind of magic, but it does.”
Johns’ paintings are free and wildly colorful. She covers her pallet with 17 shades of paint, plus white. Her style is impressionistic, not like a photograph, and guests to her studio don’t have to sit frozen in a pose.
“That means it’s not a very precise portrait,” Johns said. “It’s an impression. What I get is impressionistic,” a painting that makes an emotional interpretation of the model’s appearance. “I use paint rather freely. It’s definitely not photographic, what I do.”
Johns makes use of photographs. She snaps a picture of the model, before they leave her home studio, so she can work on the canvas after the two hours are up. When she’s out and about in Cummington, Johns also snaps pictures of people she hopes will sit for her.
“Today, I posted a portrait of Steve, the owner of the Williamsburg grocery store,” Johns said. “He had a very interesting mask for me. I said, “I don’t know you, but I shop here, so can I take a photo of you? I like your mask.’”
During the pandemic the masks worn by her subjects place them in time, one role portraiture has played since the Dark Ages. The masks also had an interesting effect: Johns found people were more willing, wearing a mask, to sit for a portrait, even strangers. She wondered if they felt more secure.
“What do these masks do for us? For many people, it’s a safe feeling,” she said. The masks, covering the models’ facial features, nonetheless convey their personalities. “I’m looking for the unusual masks. That’s also very interesting. Why does someone wear a mask with many colors, and someone else wear a mask with only black?”
The masking of Johns’ subjects will make this fifth show unique, but only in the artwork. Johns knows, from past shows, the best part is hanging out with friends. It’s a delicious chance to socialize in her town.
She said of the opening of the show, which took place on Dec. 3, “It’s like a community gathering. I do it for my pleasure in the conversation. I hang it up and everybody comes and talks. I thought about making a little game out of it, asking people who they think is behind the mask.”
Art show openings are part and parcel of Johns’ life. The paintings are evidence of the joy and emotional sustenance she gains from talking with friends and neighbors. The camaraderie helps keep her focused and productive.
“If I couldn’t do this, I would be depressed,” Johns said. “I've had a grandchild drown and both my kids are dead. If I didn’t do this, I don’t know where I’d be. This brings me the joy of life.”
“The Heart of the Hilltowns V” opened on Dec. 3, from 5 to 7 p.m., and be on display until Dec. 31. The Cummington Community House is located at 33 Main St. in Cummington.