Patricia Johnston is a West Coast artist, who lives and works in North Vancouver, British Columbia.  Johnston’s work has captured the respect of people all over the world.  Her paintings are found in over 600 collections in Canada, the United States, Great Britain, the Caribbean and Japan; and are collected by more than 50 corporations and public institutions including the City of Vancouver, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and Vancouver General Hospital.  In addition to her art-making, Johnston has shared her talents as a teacher, and has contributed to her community by serving on a variety of public art commission panels, and by donating her work for over 20 years to the Vancouver children’s arts organization, Arts Umbrella.

Johnston’s regular travels on the BC Ferries’ routes - including journeys throughout the Gulf Islands - have provided the foundation for her recent works.  Johnston’s painting, though, is not a simple depiction of her observations of the coast.  Rather, she tries to reveal the spirit of the place, and possibly even the transcendental aspect of our environment.  Johnston dissolves atmosphere, wave and land mass alike to the edge of an abstracted, luminous state.  Johnston clearly understands nature’s nuances, and her work reflects a genuine coastal sensibility.