A Winding Road To The Life As An Artist

COVER STORY – A Winding Road To The Life As An Artist

We want to welcome local artist Sandy Johnson to our March cover. In her own words –

My lifeline seems to be meandering over the landscape`– actually more like a river than a road. The confluence of many wandering rivulets brought me to my present form. After a false start in pre-med, I blended my college major in theatre and speech with a secondary teaching degree. Then for a decade, I taught speech communication at the local university. I attended a couple of art classes along the way but never really took time for more than that.

Life was busy. Our family grew. Four children later, I left academia to become a financial planner. Turns out I loved running a business. Who knew? I cherished my clients and the individuals with whom I worked. 32 years later, it was time to retire and set a new course.

I now get to put away charts, efficiency models and financial forecasting for something else, something new, something that speaks to another part of my being. I have time. I am eager and hungry to learn, to develop my skills and to try new things. Color and form excite me. I’m a happy lady. It’s now time to inhabit a new space for me filled with light and contrast and ask, “what’s next?” We are fortunate to spend the warm part of the year at a cabin tucked on a small lake in Northern Minnesota and the rest of the year on the Florida Treasure Coast. My art tends to reflect the spaces I occupy and the people that populate my world. It’s a journey.