About the Artist

The Creative Self

Dreams and Goals

My childhood was filled with art and creativity; they were my escape and my passion. When I grew up I knew I would become an artist, but reality interfered. Could I make a living in fine art? If I chose it as a career, would the passion crack under the weight of financial pressures and loss of artistic freedom? I knew it would, and it was too important to keep this part of me mine, so I pursued my other love: animals. 
After 9 years of college and post-grad, I became an ER Veterinarian. Although I tried, there is no room in the study and practice of Veterinary Medicine for art. Not with school debt. There is no chunk of time where looking at your watch isn’t critical, and stress is not looming, or where sleep doesn’t take priority over creativity. I tried. The hardest part was turning off my left brain and letting my right brain relax enough to create. So I resorted to pet portraits during overnight shifts with ballpoint pens on scratch paper, and a few watercolor lessons. Then suddenly I was 50; where had all the time gone? And then there was COVID. So that was it. I made some changes, I started working less, we got a vacation home with a studio space, and I started painting again. 
So here I am, 5 years in, living a double life in two locations: one for work (my left brain) and one for art (my right brain). It has been an enormous relief, and a ton of work. I take lessons. I do workshops. Many wonderful people have helped me; are still helping me. This is what I was meant to do. 
I hope you enjoy my journey and my art. I do; because this is my safe space, my heart. 
This is me. 
--Carla Jean Johnson