Published Nov 08, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 2 minute read<\/p>\n
![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1111-cd-artist.cd_.jpg\")
Chatham artist Steve Johnson holds this image taken at Rose Beach along Lake Erie in Chatham-Kent that recently won him first place in the manipulated landscape photo category of the World Arts Awards. PHOTO Ellwood Shreve\/Chatham Daily News jpg, CD, apsmcArticle content<\/p>\n
A Chatham artist has created an award-winning art work using older digital photo technology on a photograph he took of Rose Beach along Lake Erie in Chatham-Kent.<\/p>\n
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Earlier this year Steve Johnson, 67, was awarded first place in the manipulated landscape photography category in the World Art Awards for creating a stunning expressionist view of the well-known beach.<\/p>\n
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He visited the beach with his son and took a few photos, which he came home and played with using an older version of Photoshop 7 by applying some basic filters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to use (the photo) as kind of a reference to do a painting, but this came out,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the strangest thing and I did not design that consciously,\u201d he added. \u201cIt kind of revealed itself to me afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson said what appeals to him about the manipulated photo \u201cis the happy accident revealing the spiritual nature of the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Retired from a career in marketing, Johnson, a transplant from the Ottawa area, also has impressive skills with a paint brush.<\/p>\n
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Chatham artist Steve Johnson displays some of his paintings of iconic Canadian waterfalls. He is holding his painting of Niagara Falls. PHOTO Ellwood Shreve\/Chatham Daily News jpg, CD, apsmc<\/p>\n
He has recently completed a series on Canada\u2019s iconic waterfalls that includes paintings of waterfalls from every province and territory across the nation.<\/p>\n
Part of Johnson\u2019s inspiration comes from the current tensions being felt between Canada and the United States over tariffs and trade wars.<\/p>\n
Being a proud Canadian, he said, \u201cCanada\u2019s natural waterfalls are something nobody can take away from us.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople come from all over the world to see them, so I wanted to depict that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Johnson is proud of his iconic waterfall series and is writing letters to the premier of every province and territory to see if they would be interested in exhibiting the entire collection.<\/p>\n
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If there is an interested buyer, he would also like to see the series sold as a set.<\/p>\n
Johnson was inspired to take up painting after seeing the movie \u2018Pollock\u2019 about American painter Jackson Pollock, who was famous in the abstract expressionist movement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, \u2018Damn, that\u2019s a pretty good gig, I could do that.\u2019\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n
Johnson likes the expressionist style of painting because of it is so bold.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when you look at it, you instantly get an emotional reaction \u2013 it hits you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson has been creating a lot more art these days with hope of it becoming a nice part-time job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just love it and I\u2019ve got more things planned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Johnson added one of his projects involves doing a series of paintings of the historic Thames River.<\/p>\n