But Mr Johnson has another artistic passion which he has offered to share with the local community.
He will showcase the art of bonsai as part of the Rotary Easter Art Show in Deniliquin next weekend, as the event’s demonstrating artist.
Mr Johnson was initially locked in to share his bonsai skills at the 2020 art show, before it was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said he was pleased to be offered another chance to showcase a unique form of Japanese art to local and visiting art lovers.
‘‘I’m excited to share bonsai at the Easter Art Show. I’ll have a tent set-up and will give demonstrations, talk to people about bonsai and also give them a crack at trying bonsai,’’ he said.
‘‘I’ll be demonstrating the art of air layering, fertilising and other aspects of the art of bonsai.
‘‘I’ll also be demonstrating viewing stones, or suseok, which is a form of Japanese art in itself but which complements bonsai.
‘‘Rocks are formed to look like mountains and put up on a dais.
‘‘What some people may not realise is that bonsai is not just putting a plant in a pot. In summer you have to water the plant twice a day, as well as regularly prune and feed it.
‘‘If you think of a painting you have to pick what colours you paint with and whether you will use oil or water based paint.
‘‘Bonsai is similar in the sense that you pick your tree, pick your pot and pick how you want it to look. It takes a lot of care and hard work.
‘‘Landscape gardening is a passion of mine and I find bonsai, as well as just watering plants, quite therapeutic. It’s important to have something that relaxes me like this, particularly in my line of work.’’
Mr Johnson, who has embraced the nickname Bonsai Bob, has been a bonsai artist for the past 33 years.
He started with just a few, and now he has several hundred.
‘‘My brother-in-law who lived in Swan Hill got me started,’’ he said.
‘‘He had a couple of bonsai trees and I was completely infatuated by it. He also had a book on bonsai and I was quick to borrow that.
‘‘Now, 33 years on, I just love teaching the art of bonsai.’’
Mr Johnson is a member of several bonsai clubs in Australia including Canberra, Castlemaine and Melbourne where international Bonsai Masters conduct classes.
He now enjoys giving private lessons, group sessions and demonstrations to organisations, including for Deniliquin Rotary, Deniliquin Garden Club and the Deniliquin Mental Health Awareness Group.
‘‘It’s a funny art, where it gets in your blood and you just can’t get it out,’’ Mr Johnson said.
Mr Johnson is also a long-time exhibitor in the Rotary Easter Art Show, and is a member of Edward River Art Society’s In Focus Photography Group.
‘‘My love for photography started with an instamatic camera as a teenager, and now I have about $10,000 worth of camera gear,’’ he said.
The annual Rotary Easter Art Show will be held at the Multi Arts Centre in the heart of Deniliquin’s CBD, and will be open each day between Good Friday, April 1 and Easter Monday, April 5.
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