A great new review of the exhibition from Alice Bella Reflects blogspot :

I have seen Johnson’s work featured in various publications around Manchester and now I understand why her illustrations are so popular. She has a very down-to-earth passion for the area she hails, originally from Preston, and it is her natural instinct to record it through drawing.

My initial thought was how her work, both showcased sketchbooks and large scale studies were reminiscent in spirit to Lowry in theoretical terms – how he would walk down the road and have to draw scenes along the way. Beside many of her pieces she had detailed why the particular study had come about, often expressing how she would be stood in the street and just have to draw it as it was just beautiful. She responds to her subject with a naive yet technical fashion and makes sure to pay it the aesthetic respect it deserves but still maintaining her artistic style.

Johnson’s passion for recording what matters to her does not just stop at the Mancunian cityscape, it overflows out into her personal life. As part of her exhibit, there was a feature wall showcasing various smaller sketches which would of have been collected over time. These included sketches of people on the bus, small landscapes and life drawing of family. What I found so intriguing about this was it seems Johnson wants the viewer to be involved in a more intimate scale, making you feel involved – like being told a secret.

I walked away from this exhibition with a lovely feeling of creativity as the overall show reminds you that inspiration can be found round every corner and that it is so important to feed a creative mind regularly also, more importantly, that you cannot be too personal when it comes to producing artwork – if you enjoy making it then the viewer will enjoy viewing it!

There’s a rainbow in the road is on display at the Salford Museum & Art Gallery until the 7th July 2013.

For more information on Caroline Johnson visit https://carolinejohnson.org/

Posted by Alice Bella at 10:37 pm

via Alice Bella Reflects: #1 Salford Art Gallery & Museum.