What drives my creativity?
“I am an active outdoors woman. When I am in Nature, I look for the life force, the magic, that stirs inside all of us and I share my love of Nature through my paintings and photography.”
Biographical Information
Joannie Johnson is a Minnesota-based visual artist located in the south Minneapolis metro area. She studied graphic design and fine arts at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. She earned a double major bachelor of arts degree in 2001.
She is known for her landscape paintings that feature canoeists and kayakers as well as other forest scenes. She works primarily in oils but also has completed abstract work in pastels, colored pencil, and acrylics.
Her first art show was a major regional juried show at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, the first undergraduate art student from St. Ambrose University to do so.
After moving from Iowa to Minneapolis, she was active in the Visual Arts Focus Group (VAFG) and Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM), participating Art-A-Whirl and numerous St. Paul Art Crawls, and VAFG group shows. She has also participated in the Northfield, Minnesota area art shows as part of the ARTour open studio tour, and at Hospital One in Faribault, Northfield Senior Center, Northfield Art Guild, Allina Medical Clinic, and Northfield City Hall. In 2015, she was a featured artist during the Northfield Garden Tour.
From 2017 to late 2018 she lived in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in order to participate in the Sheboygan Visual Artists Group and the group’s many shows. Upon returning to Minnesota, she established a studio in her home and became a member of Northfield Art Guild, Eagan Arts, and Red Wing Arts. She had a solo show at Fairview Ridges Hospital, Burnsville, in January 2019 that featured 20 of her large landscapes.
During the COVID pandemic shutdowns she participated in two virtual gallery artshows and published in Artistonish Magazine for art.
Art Statement
Outdoor experiences in Nature inspire my landscape paintings. Water, trees, rocks, landforms dominate my work and the people in them.
Nature, and shapes found in natural places, feature changing light and soft focus. Often the figures in my paintings are in transition from one place to another, and there are undulating lines, sharp edges, and soft textures. Sometimes I abandon brushes and use fingers and gloved hands to push, scrape, add or remove paint.
I am interested in the life force in all parts of Nature and the magical qualities of that life force. On water and on land, humans move through life and feel the healing, transporting effects of Nature as it carries us through the various stages of our lives.
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa
Bachelor of Fine Art and Graphic Design (double major) 2001
EXHIBITIONS
2001
- 25th Annual Rock Island Fine Arts Exhibition, Rock Island, IL
- St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA
- River Arts Center, Clinton, IA
2002-2010
- St. Paul Art Crawl, St. Paul, MN
2003
- Art-A-Whirl, Minneapolis, MN
- Shoreview Art Gallery, Shoreview, MN
2005
- Affinity Bank, Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN
2008
- L'Orange Gallerie, Minneapolis, MN
2009
- Nature Art Show, Isaac Walton League, Brooklyn Park, MN
- L'Orange Gallerie, Minneapolis, MN
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015
2011
- Nature Art Show, Isaac Walton League, Brooklyn Park, MN
2012
- Allina Clinic, Northfield, MN
- ArTour, Northfield, MN
2013
- District One Hospital, Paradise Center Health Arts, Faribault, MN
- ArTour, Northfield, MN
- Open Show, Senior Center, Northfield, MN
2014
- Solo Show, Senior Center, Northfield, MN
ArTour, Northfield, MN
2015
- City Hall, Northfield, MN
Garden Tour, Northfield, MN
2016
- City Hall Exhibit, Northfield, MN
Northfield Art Guild
- Teacher/Student Show, Bloomington, MN
SVA New Members Show, Sheboygan, WI
2018
- Art in the Movies, Sheboygan, WI
Golden Frame Show, Sheboygan, WI
2019
- Small Works, Red Wing, MN
2020
- Fairview Ridges Hospital SOLO SHOW, Burnsville, MN
- Northfield Art Guild, Northfield, MN
- New Work, Red Wing Art Guild, Red Wing, MN
2021
- Opening - Virtual Reality Gallery - September 1 to October 31, 2021
The exhibition titled "OPENING" explores the many ways we see ourselves, our surroundings, and our psychological state after a season of global lockdowns. This online exhibition features a wide selection of works by the international art community of the Art NXT Level program. Through their art and stories, this group of artists shares how their work and our world have changed. Curated by Sergio Gomez.
2022
- Emotions - Virtual Reality Gallery and publication - June 15, 2022 to July 15, 2022
Lake Itasca (Fear) was accepted into Emotions, a juried virtual show by Gallerium Art Exibitons, 2022 Smart International Online Group Exhibition; the show featured artwork about six types of human emtions: Happiness, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, Anger, Surprise. .
- Artistonish Magazine - June issue 2022
My painting, Roots 1, was accepted for publication, by jury process, in the June 2022 issue of Artistonish magazine, Toronto, Canada.
2023
- Members Show, Red Wing Arts Depot Gallery - January 13, 2023 to January 31,2023
- Triptych MORNING, NOON, NIGHT - Red Wing Arts Clay and Creative Center - February 1, 2023 to February 28,2023
- 19 Landscapes solo show at M Fairview Ridges Hospital, Burnsville, MN - July 1, 2023 to July 31, 2023
- International Festival show “Make Time for Art”, Ames Center Art Gallery, Burnsville, MN - July 10, 2023 to August 26, 2023
2024
- Biafarin Group Exhibit - Aging 2024 - February 20 to April 10, 2024
- Northern National Art Competition - June 13 to July 26, 2024 - Nicolet College, Rhinelander, WI
- International Festival show “Our World Is a Wonder”, Ames Center Art Gallery, Burnsville, MN - July 18, 2024 to September 14, 2024
- Members Show, Northfield Art Gallery - September 21, 2024 to October 11,2024