Patrick Henry Johnson was born in Valdosta, Georgia in the autumn of 1963. I am the seventh of ten children of Hattie Johnson and William Henry Tillman. Ever since I can remember, art has been a guiding force in my life. My oldest brother Johnny was my first teacher. He taught me how to hold a pencil and more importantly, how to see.

As a precocious and curious child, I was driven to find art materials in an environment that didn't nurture art nor care about those materials.

Survival was at the forefront of my parent's minds. I would be sent out on scavenger hunts to find paper and pencils. The paper came from books, which had blank pages front and back. After taking a razor blade to the texts I had a stack of paper! Mission achieved!

I dream about painting when I am talking with someone; I can see in their face, how to light them, how to position their face for the best view for a composition. I get lost in conversation because I have drifted into a painting and I am working it out.

I am currently working on my greatest series of paintings ever! Well, that's until the next series.

@phjart