‘As long as I can hold a brush’

Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
 
Lois Johnson keeps her painting supplies out and available, ready for whenever she feels the itch to create. She began painting scenes of flowers and old buildings with acrylic paints before finding a love for watercolors. 
“I like watercolors the best because you can walk away and come back later and the piece changes,” Johnson said. “I like that. It’s different, and for some reason it’s for me.” 
After 30 years in the banking field, Johnson retired nearly 25 years ago from First State Bank. During her newfound free time, she rediscovered a love for art that had been kindled by her father when she was a child. 
“My dad was always just drawing, and I drew with him too,” Johnson said. Two of her sisters shared her passion for art. 
She began by painting pictures, everything but animals, which she admits she could never get quite right. Painting flowers, scenic views and old buildings were her subjects. The walls of her home are covered with art (not all created by Johnson), but in every room there is a painting of a beautiful old homestead or a flower arrangement created by Johnson. 
Photographs or, sometimes, live flowers, are Johnson’s models for art pieces that blend colors to really capture the true essence of the subject. 
Johnson has shifted her focus from large paintings to one of a kind smaller works of art for those she cares for the most, her family. 
“Now I have been making birthday cards for my family. I have four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren who I create custom cards for,” Johnson said. 
Gifting her art – giving away the pieces that didn’t get hung on her walls – has always been a practice of Johnson’s. But card creation is her focus now. 
“There are probably hundreds of pictures I painted some place. I didn’t want to have them all at my home, so I gave them away,” Johnson said. 
Johnson has no plans retire from painting and said she hopes to continue as long as her hands and eyes allow it. 
“I will paint as long as possible, as long as I can hold a brush,” Johnson said.