Intertidal Impressions
Susan L. Johnson’s Watercolors Reveal the Wonder of Animals, Education, and Quiet Attention
Susan Johnson doesn’t just observe the natural world—she invites us to see it differently.
“I better my own understanding by visually depicting the animals in front of me. I hope my viewers will pause to look and learn along with me.”
With a background in biology education and documentary storytelling, Susan’s art emerges from both scientific curiosity and artistic intuition. Working primarily in watercolor, she paints farm and marine animals—mackerel, alewives, sheep—with striking intimacy. Her compositions emphasize negative space, gesture, and simplified form, inviting us to slow down and consider the quiet drama of Maine’s natural life.
From Life Sciences to Life Drawing
Originally from the New York area, Susan’s connection to Maine began at summer camp and deepened through her husband’s midcoast Maine roots. After earning a B.S. from Cornell and an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she built a 30-year life sciences career, spanning high school teaching, science television production, and more than two decades at Harvard, overseeing outreach and mentoring programs.
But her creative center was always calling.
“I’ve reconnected with who I was as a nature-loving child.”
Today, she splits her time between Portland and South Bristol, where she continues to teach—just in a different way. Whether capturing sheep in a pasture or alewives beneath the surface, Susan is still exploring the intersection of environment, observation, and meaning.
Seeing Beneath the Surface
Susan often paints from fieldwork: sketching onsite, photographing live specimens, and spending time in natural settings. For her series on mackerel, she filled an aquarium in her boat’s bow to capture their iridescence before releasing them. Her painting process begins long before the brush meets paper.
“I’m not interested in painting from someone else’s photo—or from a dead mackerel in a fish store,” she says. “I want to depict the living experience, the essence of that creature.”
She focuses on light, shape, and interaction rather than setting—minimizing environmental detail to draw attention to the animal’s presence and role within a larger ecological story.
“I try to tread the line between realism and abstraction.”
Art and Education in Action
Susan recently served as an artist-in-residence at South Bristol School, guiding eighth graders through the alewife migration. Armed with grant support, field guides, and watercolor brushes, she introduced students to a new way of seeing their environment—through observation and creation.
The experience mirrored her own artistic journey.
“Even though I’ve taught for years, I’m still learning how to communicate through paint. And I love being a beginner again.”
She continues to build a library of intimate sketches, photos, and visual impressions to support new work—paintings that blend curiosity, emotion, and form.
Explore More
Susan Johnson is a Portland Art Gallery artist and Signature Member of the New England Watercolor Society. Her work blends science, art, and story—shining a light on Maine’s natural world, from fisheries to farms, and reminding us that wonder is everywhere, if we take the time to look.
Explore her paintings in person at the Portland Art Gallery in Portland’s historic Old Port, or online through the Portland Art Gallery website.
Watch the Full Interview
To learn more about Susan’s artistic and educational journey—from Harvard classrooms to fish ladders in South Bristol—watch her full conversation on Radio Maine with Dr. Lisa Belisle.