Shirley Johnson

Artist Statement:  

When I was introduced to alcohol ink as a medium, I was immediately attracted to its organic, vibrant, free-flowing qualities. It can be blended, blown, pushed, pulled, or let simply to “blossom”. I realized the free-flowing inks were a perfect medium to interpret nature….landscapes, gardens, flowers….all the things I grew up with in the country.

Art created with alcohol ink has an organic nature about it, as if created by the universe, not by a painter's hand. As the artist, I might be the one applying the ink, but because the ink doesn’t absorb into non-porous substrates, it sits on the surface, blending and blossoming, moving with a mind of its own.

So while the universe creates, I participate in the process…creating vibrant, sometimes whimsical, paintings of the beautiful, chaotic, natural world of all things botanical. Bold, clear colors and simple shapes are the hallmark of my art.

Artist Biography: 

My first art instruction came from my father at the dining table when I was three, followed by formal instruction as a child at the Bergstrom Art Center in Neenah, and undergraduate study of drawing, painting, print making, ceramics and photography at UW-Oshkosh.

I’m a self-taught alcohol-ink artist who was born and raised in Wisconsin. I spent most of my life in the Fox River Valley, but now live in West Bend.