Originally from Scotland, Art (Arthur) Johnstone lives in Waikino: ‘Hidden in the hills’. A village nestled in the beautiful Karangahake Gorge New Zealand.

Art’s poems very much reflect a romantic connection with the countryside, with people he has known and places he has been. He uses poetry to express a sense of loss and melancholy. Not in a sad way, but rather, a reflective reminisce as time passes.

Art has spent hours, dreaming, talking to himself, playing the role of advocate, then defendant.

He believes the conversations we have with ourselves are compelling, but that we rarely communicate those thoughts to the people who need to hear them, much of his poetry is an insight to this internal dialogue.

Social fairness and an appreciation for the fine-grain details of our daily lives reoccur throughout Art’s writing.

A keen photographer, Art captures and commissions images to accompany his prose.