My Boys did it.
In My Boys Did It, Scottish painter Karenina Johnson conjures a theatrical, almost mythic vision of triumph rendered through the visual language of the Italian Renaissance. The canvas feels lifted from a High Renaissance chapel wall—solemn, reverent, and emotionally charged—yet its subject is unmistakably modern American sport.
At the compositional center stands Paul Allen, portrayed not as a businessman but as a patron-saint figure, elevated slightly above the scene. His head tilts downward, eyes heavy with tears, hands relaxed in quiet surrender to emotion. Johnson paints his grief not as sorrow, but as release—the catharsis of fulfillment after a long, faithful vigil. The tears glisten with the same devotional intensity found in Renaissance depictions of mourning apostles or repentant kings.
Below him, arranged in a pyramidal composition reminiscent of Raphael, are the victorious figures:
the head coach, composed and resolute, gazing outward with stoic authority, and Kenneth Walker, whose body language carries restrained power—youthful strength held in check by purpose. They are not celebrating wildly; instead, they inhabit the calm gravity of men who have completed a sacred task.
Behind them, the Stars and Stripes unfurls like a Renaissance banner, its folds treated with classical care, echoing the drapery of Florentine frescoes. The flag functions less as nationalism and more as mythic backdrop—a symbol of spectacle, devotion, and collective belief.
The light is unmistakably Renaissance: warm, directional, almost divine. It falls from above, bathing Allen’s bowed face and tracing the contours of the players with sculptural clarity. Shadows are soft but intentional, giving the figures weight, permanence, and moral presence.
Johnson’s title, My Boys Did It, reframes the Super Bowl victory as something intimate and paternal. This is not a sports painting—it is a modern altarpiece, where victory becomes legacy, and ownership becomes guardianship. The work asks the viewer not to cheer, but to witness.
Award Winning Scottish Artist
Karenina Johnson
Karenina is an award winning artist and tutor who works from her studio in the centre of Perth. Karenina's subject matter varies depending on what she feels like painting. Her love of the Scottish landscape, stormy skies being a particular favourite (so she lives in the right location then) often turns up in her paintings. Growing up by the sea, she is growing increasingly interested in capturing the ever changing nature of water. From the quirky and colourful to dark and brooding and most things in between. She bores painting the same thing over and over again, so variety is a constant in her work. She paints in oils, acrylics, watercolour and sometimes mixed media. She hates using charcoal with a passion, but soft pastels get the thumbs up.
An artist's life can be a solitary one and Karenina is fortunate to be able to teach adults from her studio so she is able to interact with actual humans. The studio is not very big, so class numbers are restricted to three people at a time. She also offers individual tuition should that be your preference. She loves coaching complete beginners because there is something joyous about seeing someone with no art experience create a work of art.
Karenina's paintings are in public and private collections here in the UK and all over the world.
Other Original works by Karenina Johnson
