Johnny Sunshine

“Johnny Sunshine” 16 x 20 in. oil on panel. This is painted from an old black and white photo from the 1800s that I came across on the internet. Some people think he might have been a riverboat gambler on the Mississippi River. I just liked the photo, which was not in very good condition.

To me he made me think of a character from on of my book of shrt stories Ned Wakes Up named Johnny Sunshine. In my story Johnny is a character who is full of swagger and who means well, but everywhere he goes things just fall apart.

My character’s name was inspired by the Liz Phair song “Johnny Sunshine,” which I absolutely love.