BARBARA J. JOHNSON received her B.F.A. from Indiana University, her M.F.A. from UMass. A Hadley resident, inspired by the natural beauty of the Connecticut River Valley and showing an affinity with the so-called "Valley Realists" - including the late Gregory and Frances Cohen Gillespie, Jane Lund, and Scott Prior '71 - she is a painter of landscape, still life, portraits, and "narrative scenes, which she describes as "archetypal scenarios that illuminate the experience of children absorbed in the natural world." Her own absorption with nature, and an engagement with the techniques ofclassical painting, are central to her work. Like the Renaissance artists who have influenced her, Johnson's written, she celebrates "the transcendent real." Her work hangs in private collections from New York to Los Angeles; she has exhibited widely, and is preparing for a solo show at the Springfield Museums in 2003.