Preparing for a Show...or Two Shows

When Roger Hayden Johnson committed to doing two back-to-back shows, he knew it would be a stretch for him to complete works for both. He has been painting twelve hours a day for the past several months as he prepares for two openings:

June 12, 2026 — McLarry Fine Arts, 225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM. This show will be up for two weeks, and Roger will be in the gallery for a special opening from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on the 12th.

July 3, 2026 — Raitman Galleries, 223 Gore Creek Drive, Vail, CO. Roger and his daughter, Anna Elise Johnson, will be presenting their second father/daughter show for a month beginning June 19th. The gallery will host a special "Meet the Artists" event from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on July 3rd.

Preparation Begins Months Ahead of a Show

Roger begins planning for new paintings many months before a show opens. He thinks about a cohesive and exciting look overall, carefully chooses his subjects, and considers sizes appropriate to the spaces in each gallery. He buys canvas and tubes of oil paints to have on hand, along with other art supplies such as brushes, painting mediums (mineral spirits, Liquin™, etc.), and heavy picture hanging wire. If the gallery prefers to have its paintings framed, he calls in an order to Picture Woods in Boulder to have them fabricated, which typically requires one to two months to complete. He visits the local Meininger Art Supply store to pick out heavy duty aluminum stretcher bars, along with the corner pieces to assemble them. At some point, he buys cardboard and Coroplast™ sheets from Colorado Industrial Packaging — materials that he will eventually use to complete the backs of his paintings so they can be stacked safely in his van for delivery to the galleries.

The Painting Begins

Roger usually begins to paint each day at about 8:00 a.m. and works until lunch time. He then paints for 2–3 hours each afternoon. His most concentrated painting times happen between about 8:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. And this goes on for months! When a painting is well along toward completion, he positions it where he can study it and decides which details need to be changed or improved, repainted, removed, etc. Then it's back to his easel to continue working.

Most of the time, Roger is working on two or three paintings at a time. He may need to wait for one to dry while he studies another or starts a new one, so his work constantly shifts according to the circumstances.

Photography, Finishing Touches, and Communicating with Galleries

Once Roger completes a painting, he needs to photograph it for inclusion both on his website and on his galleries' websites. He emails the photos with titles, prices, and sizes to his galleries. After he photographs each painting, he adds a protective coat of gloss varnish.

Once the paintings have fully dried, he takes them to his worktable, where he assembles the backing materials and signs the backs. His "floater" frames require careful placement of the paintings within the frames — side-to-side, top-to-bottom, and at the right depth — before he can secure them with metal joiners screwed into the metal stretcher bars. Finally, he wraps each painting in foam or plastic sheets and cardboard for safe transport. Occasionally pieces need to be shipped directly to a client or gallery, which requires the purchase or construction of a sturdy custom art box, wrapping in bubble wrap and plastic, and scheduling shipment.

With the Help of the Family

In anticipation of their father/daughter show in Vail, Anna Elise Johnson has been checking in regularly with Roger on FaceTime (she lives in Los Angeles) to show him her own progress on the paintings she plans to bring to Colorado in June. Roger's son, Allen Johnson, performs his web services by adding new works to the rogerhaydenjohnson.com slide show and to the site's gallery pages. He also promotes new works on social media, including Instagram and Facebook.

To be among the first to see Roger's latest works, please follow rogerhaydenjohnson on Instagram and Facebook! You can also contact Roger directly via the contact form on his web page. And of course, gallery art consultants are always quick to answer questions about purchase, installation, and arranging for commissions.