Kate Kettler
Growing up, Becky Johnson was the kid in school who could
draw.
Johnson’s high school didn’t offer any art classes so all her
work was straight from the heart. Teachers and schoolmates praised
her ability and lifted her up as someone with talent.
That particular affirmation inspired her to pursue an art major
in college. However, when she emerged from her small Missouri
school, she found out the big cruel world was not so kind.
“I wasn’t special anymore,” Johnson said. “I had no technical
ability and everyone around me did. Being an art major was not any
fun.”
After changing her major several times, Johnson quit college for
a career. The job she got took her about as far from her creative
artistic side as possible. In 1968 Johnson began working as a
secretary at the Maximum Security Men’s Prison in Jefferson City,
Missouri.
“It’s a whole different world in there,” she said. “Just about
everything that happened went through the Records and ID
department. There are some bad people in this world and I’m glad
they are locked up. I feel like I have a different perspective than
most people.”
When Johnson moved to Colorado in 1972 she decided to return to
her passion.
“Art has always been my best expression. It is the way I express
myself,” she said.
However, working as an artist is not an easy way to make a
living. Since the mid-70s Johnson has been travelling to art shows
in Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois and Colorado. She
has sold prints and originals at national art shows such as the
Ducks Unlimited Wildlife Art Show and smaller local fairs like
Woodland Park’s own Mountain Arts Festival.
When shoppers stroll by, the artists appear to just be enjoying
a day in the sun, however, a lot of work goes into setting up a
booth.
“Right now I am a one-person operation,” she said. “I take all
my own pictures to paint from. I do the painting, framing, and
printing. I travel to the shows, set everything up, man my booth
and take everything down. If it rains, I am responsible for keeping
my work safe. It’s way more work than I’d do if I didn’t love
it.”
For Johnson being an artist is more than just selling paintings.
Her customers have become friends as they meet each year at art
fairs and Johnson’s work touches their lives.
“It is rewarding to have someone come back two or 10 years after
they’ve bought a piece and tell me that the painting hanging on
their wall gives them great joy. At one show there had been a fire
in the area. A couple stopped by my booth to tell me, ‘Your
painting was something I took,’” she said.
Johnson also has her pastels displayed in galleries; Mary
Williams Fine Art in Boulder, Strecker-Nelson in Manhattan, Kansas,
Thunderbird Art in Greeley, and Seven Arrows in Woodland Park.
When her snowy road scene, “Heading Home,” was hung in Seven
Arrows it sold almost immediately. Since September that print alone
has sold 18 copies.
“It is exciting to see your pieces going out the door and making
other people happy, but that’s not why I do it,” Johnson said. “I
have never quit being an artist. It’s always a part of you.”
In the midst of January, Johnson is working on “a little piece
of summer.” Her drafting table can transport her to a well-lit
stream surrounded by green trees. Nearby several views of a rabbit
have been commissioned from Johnson.
“My next painting might be my favorite painting,” she said. “You
never know. It just happens.”
To enjoy Becky Johnson’s pastels visit her display in Seven
Arrows Gallery or go to www.beckyjohnsonpastels.com.