In the middle of the night, usually after finishing work, Albert Lean Gilbert Johnson Jr. puts his feelings onto canvas.

With bright hues from across the rainbow, his emotions spill from his brush to his paintings.

“I never have any idea what it’s going to be when I start,” Johnson said. “I try to let it be and not force it.”

What comes are paintings he describes as expressionist in nature.

Some emit feelings of sadness, others happiness. Yet others exhibit feelings of deep thought or curiosity.

Ultimately, he wants viewers to decide their own interpretation, he said.

His work, a series of about 75 acrylic and oil paintings, will be on display at three galleries at the Albert Lea Art Center through Sept. 25. The center is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.

This is Johnson’s first show at the Art Center — and his first show ever for his paintings.

“Painting for me is the freedom I don’t have with my other art,” said Johnson, who is also a tattoo artist and the owner of The Chapel tattoo parlor in downtown Albert Lea. “Here I can do whatever I feel like. Whatever happens, happens.”

Artistic in nature, Johnson said drawing was his choice of medium for most of his life; however, about three years ago, he got back into painting more regularly.

“I feel more free when I paint,” he said.

He noted that he paints solely for himself, to allow himself a venue for expressing his feelings. He does not usually paint things by request but enjoys giving paintings away after the fact.

“I love color,” Johnson said. “I love working with color. I feel like we don’t get enough color in our daily lives. A lot of us live so mundane.”

He said he never knows when his inspiration will come. Sometimes he will paint a scene and realize later it was something he witnessed even years before.

At first glance the vivid colors may be the most notable part of his paintings, but Johnson said he also enjoys incorporating movement into his art.

For the sake of the gallery, he has named the paintings, but otherwise he does not like to name a painting so a viewer’s interpretation will not get swayed by the name.

The son of Gilbert and Mary Johnson, Johnson was born and raised in Albert Lea, other than a few years in the Twin Cities.

He moved back to Albert Lea to teach high school but was ultimately laid off during budget cuts.

Prior to opening The Chapel, he owned a coffee shop at the same location, 115 S. Broadway Ave.

Making the plunge to have his first show to exhibit his paintings, he said he hopes this will just be the first of several around the state and the nation.

“In order to do this regularly, I have to get out and be seen,” he said. “What better place to start than Albert Lea, my hometown.”

He will show his work in Duluth after the Albert Lea show.

For questions, people can find Johnson at The Chapel during the week from 2 to 10 p.m. and from noon to midnight on the weekends.

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