Deposit artist’s work shown at CWC

MARGARETVILLE, N.Y., July 7, 2006 - Graphite drawings by Cole Johnson of Deposit, Delaware County, are on view through October at the Catskill Watershed Corporation’s offices, 905 Main Street, Margaretville.

Visitors are welcome to view the exhibit during business hours, weekdays from 8 to 4:30.

Johnson is a lifelong resident of upstate New York. An avid outdoorsman, he enjoys hunting, fishing and spending time in the woods. His graphite drawings, created at his Smithville Flats studio, depict the species he is intimately acquainted with - deer, trout, turkeys, hunting dogs and waterfowl. Many of his works - a white tailed buck in full flight, a family of Canada geese swimming against the current - are so realistic as to appear photographic.

The artist prefers to work in graphite powder. "The contrast of black and white appeals to me," he explains. "I enjoy the challenge of making a drawing come to life based solely on tonal value."

Johnson studied at the Munson Williams Procter Institute of Art in Utica, and earned his BFA with a concentration in painting at SUNY Buffalo.

Inducted into the prestigious Society of Animal Artists in 1998, he has shown his work at many juried exhibitions. He was selected Region 1 winner in the National Arts for the Parks competition in 1999, and received a Judges Award of Merit.