Page 10 - Senior Link Magazine Winter 2025 - Online Magazine
P. 10
American
Painter of
Distinction
James W. Johnson
by A. Isabelle Howe
Thom Seawell, a faculty printmaker But he did return in the fall.
at SUNY–Oswego, mentored James. Unfortunately, his first semester was
Seawell invited Professor Lynwood “pretty rough.” Soon after moving into
Kreneck, another printmaker, to come his apartment, he was awakened by
to Oswego to hold a workshop. That sirens because a neighbor’s bed was
connection became the second big on fire. A few weeks later, James was
event to influence James’ career path. leaning on the balcony railing of his
Kreneck coaxed James, by then a upstairs apartment. The rail broke,
senior, to consider pursuing graduate
work under him at Texas Tech
University. Photo Credit: Tim Board
James had read an article in TIME
Magazine about the art boom in
Texas. He was offered a teaching
assistantship that would pay for most
of his expenses, and he was excited
about pursuing the newly discovered
passion of his life—creating art. So, he
decided to move to Texas. He came to
Lubbock in July to look for a place to
ames Johnson began life in live, recalling the enticing slide talk
beautiful upstate New York and about Texas Tech that Kreneck had
Jgraduated with a bachelor’s degree presented at Oswego with photos of a
from the State University of New beautiful green, tree-lined campus with
York–Oswego campus. He entered wonderful architecture.
as a chemistry major, but that ended
because he quickly realized that he He stepped off the plane into a
hated math, physics, AND chemistry. 114-degree day and looked around to
He had taken an elective art course and see nothing but flatness and brown.
enjoyed it so much that he points to it He rented a car and drove around
as a significant event in his life. When downtown which looked to the New
the science path didn’t work out, James Yorker like a sepia-colored ghost town.
turned to art.
Photo Credit: Pat Porter
10 Lubbock Senior Link
