Brushes with Life, Artists & Art Studios, Boston, MA 02343

American Art Collector Magazine featuring Marine Art

June, 2011

"Auke Bay"

"I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil, often with the guidance of an older and wiser hand encouraging mine to place lines on paper in accordance with what I really saw, or could dream of seeing. The teaching hands belonged to a Scandinavian boat builder, and the love of water and the ships that sail it came with the genes for me and my siblings. With respect for the ocean, I am lured to the romance of the sea. The play of light on the water tells a story; the undulating rhythm of the waves offers eternal comfort to the soul, and the adage that the sea is so great and our boat is so small begs contemplation. In my work, I try to convey these things to the viewer. Collectors say they can place themselves in the canvas and walk or sail around with their thoughts......that works for me."

Bon Voyage

s l johnson

American Art Collector Magazine featuring Landscape Art

September 2011

"Eagle River"

"Join me and contemplate in Nature's living room. Sit and enjoy the sun setting over the glacier carved mountains of Alaska and hear the lap of the water at the beach's edge. Listen to the whales and sea lions calling from the deep cool waters. Follow the path along the sand, over the crushed shells and thousand-year-old rocks up into the distant hills to see what treasures life has hiding there. Let your troubles blow away in the clean arctic breeze. If you can do those things, welcome to my world of painting where all is well because you are here in spirit."

s l johnson.

Artist Bio

I have the distinction of being both artist and businesswoman.

Somehow the left brain learned to get along with the right side; & the heart was just glad we could all live in the same body! Born an artist, I learned to be a businesswoman. My career includes management, merchandising & buying in the businesses of luxury retail, home decor and art. Because this work requires a lot of creative thinking as well as understanding numbers, it works out well for "all of us", and it allows a life of painting to coexist with work and travel. Having lived and worked all over the country, as well as abroad, my painting has been influenced by my impressions of life, cultures, and landscapes of diverse environments. Work and apprenticeships in galleries in many cities has acquainted me with philosophies, techniques, and mediums of artists, framers, & artisans from all over the world. These experiences expand my art & design appreciation and education, which got its formal start at a college of art in Boston, MA. The foundation of my education was formed in my childhood with the study of music, and time spent drawing, creating & building under the watchful eye of a master ~ a father who was boat builder, naval architect and marine engineer. Love of the sea and ships was inherited, but the lessons learned about honing skills, challenging self and imagination, are always with me. Although I call New England home, I spend much of my time in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. There I enjoy life with my daughter and her husband, and draw inspiration in that area's natural beauty. The landscapes, marine settings, and folklore of these beautiful places have become favorite subjects for me to paint, and have inspired many stories for me to tell about my "brushes with life".