The following is my artist bio. Any suggestions?
Cheryl Louise Johnson
Cheryl Johnson comes from the land of the ice and snow, has lived in the Delta heat and now resides in the picturesque, idyllic countryside of New England.
Born to second generation Finnish Americans in Minneapolis, MN, she grew up with a deep Nordic heritage, and mostly in small towns and the countryside surrounding the “Little Apple”. Wandering through the woods and fields, riding bikes down dirt roads and daydreaming of places far away were a few of her favorite past times growing up and the observation of nature inspires a lot of her work today.
Over the years, her family took a lot of road trips around the US and with that and the years to follow, Cheryl has visited all 48 states in the continental US, meeting and observing people from every walk of life, seeing a variety of landscapes. The oldest of six kids, Cheryl learned a lot about responsibility and hard work growing up but hoped to one day live what she thought would be an easy life - having fun painting and drawing and getting paid for it. She learned at a young age she had a natural talent in art and knew one day she would grow up to be a “real artist”.
Married since 1980, with three grown kids, she and her husband love to travel and have been to countries around the world including Hong Kong, Macao, England and Finland. Every place she visits fulfills her dream of going to the far away places she dreamed about as a child and enriches her growth as an artist.
A self taught artist, Cheryl has built a following across the country through both sales of her art and volunteer work. She has lived on both sides of Tennessee, Memphis and Knoxville, where her children were born. After almost 10 years amongst flowering trees, barbecue and the Blues, she and her family moved to New Hampshire to once again enjoy outdoor activities and beautiful landscapes. Her artwork is in many private collections from coast to coast, the favorites being scenes from New England.
Cheryl is a graphic design artist pretending to be a painter. Her real love is painting, in both oils and acrylics, and when she can, she does. Her design work has included newsletters, logo design, web design, web graphics, work for print advertisement, photo manipulation, wiring diagram and line drawings and furniture decorating. She has been commissioned to do children portraiture, pen and inks of homes and buildings, pet portraits and scenes from other people’s travels and vacations. Working in many different medias, her favorite is whatever she is doing at the time. She and her husband own an electronics manufacturing company, in Bedford, NH of which she is the design department.
A love for color, positivity and perseverance are all themes that can be found in Cheryl’s work. She feels communication goes far beyond words which are often overused and a lot can be said with a single brush stroke. Even though she creates in one form or another everyday, when she paints, there is an eternal perspective to be shared without words. Cheryl believes that’s what being a “real artist”, and not taking one’s self so seriously, is all about.
Cheryl, her husband, and their two cats reside in Sunapee, NH.
