Painting in my kitchen studio.
It doesn't matter where you create,
just that you do it! I'm very grateful   
to my parents  
for instilling the art  
of noticing nature's greatness.

 
I'm exhilarated by nature's beauty and vivid colors, and relish a rock, a leaf or piece of moss as much as a mountain or the ocean.  It is the simplistic nature of life I find most intriguing. Flow and contrast, color and form, intuition and newness are what excites me in creation. 

I use the mediums of liquid dye on silk with wax resist, metal forming, clay, soft pastels, watercolor and acrylic.  For silk work, all colors are mixed using the four printing process colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black.

I grew up in a family of 10 in rural Minnesota in the small town of Olivia.  At age 12, we moved to Coon Rapids, a suburb of Minneapolis.  As a teenager, my mom took me to art classes with her and we also enjoyed much family camping throughout my childhood.  I'm very grateful to my parents for instilling the art of noticing nature's greatness.  Having moved to the Big Island in 1998 with my family of four, I became enthralled with the vivid colors and large plant shapes of the rain forest, and the endless changes of the sea, which I try to save moments in soft pastels and acrylics.

Past career paths have nurtured my creative skills as a graphic designer, marketing consultant, editor, and small publishing company owner, with a pre-career in the nursery landscape field for a decade.  These days I enjoy learning from students while teaching art classes, and being office manager of our family business, while revelling in my art creation journeys. Tai chi, drumming, singing and harmonica playing are my other pleasures. And I am so blessed to have a such a supporting husband, Scott for 45 years now. We started dating when we were 14, Ha! We have one son who recently moved to New York, aw, but have gained a daughter-in-law and 3 grandchildren. My soul's mission is to be wholehearted appreciation for each others humanity. My artistic mission is to light people up with the colors of life.

Biography

Patti Pease Johnson creates and teaches art workshops in three mediums: liquid dye on silk, soft pastel, and watercolor and has been teaching at Volcano Art Center for 16 years, along with other locations. She has home and fashion accessory lines in galleries and gift shops around the state and her original artworks are in homes around the world because there are so many travelers from many places in Hawaii.

She has had nine solo exhibitions, been in numerous juried art competitions, and has been curator of four major multiple artist exhibits. She has been a long time board member of art organizations. Mrs. Johnson is a self-taught artist who relishes taking intensive art workshops, and is enjoying journeys of learning to work with clay, metal forming and acrylic painting.