Up and Running!
- Karen Johnson
- Mar 1, 2016
- 3 min read
I finally did it! I took a leap and started my own website. While I am still available on Etsy, I am transitioning over to From the Earth Designs by the end of 2016. This has been a goal of mine since I started selling online at Etsy in 2007. Building a website back in 2007 was well beyond my capabilities but with technology the way it is today it is somewhat a breeze. Now to get a hang of this blogging thing that everyone seems to be doing....
For those of you who do not know me I will give a brief, as brief as I can be, history of my background in art and life. I've literally been drawing since I can consciously remember. I want to say that in 2nd grade my classmates use to ask me to 'draw', really it was copying, the dinasour pictures in a book in the classroom. I happily abliged! From there I started copying the Art Institute drawings in the Sunday Paper in the hopes of getting a scholarship to the Art Institute. Of course that never happened. I often wondered if anyone actually won and if they did what type of scholarship was it? Disney also had a contest in the Sunday papers and when I was finished with the Art Institute contest I would work on the Disney drawings.
While I never won anything from any of those contests, I kept persisting, and to this day I believe that it was that persistence that allowed me to grow as an artist. The hopes of being 'discovered' at some point and make it 'big' like Picasso or Da Vinci. We all have dreams and my parents encouraged me to keep up with my art. They would bring me to lessons on Saturday mornings where myself and maybe 4 other kids would learn how to draw from an artist trying to make a little money on the side, probably because he too was hoping to make it big as an artist and had to support himself somehow.
Fast forward 3o years.....I am in my fifth year of teaching middle school students (15 years total as 10 were at the high school level). I married my high school sweetheart three years ago March 30. I am a very proud mother of three beautiful daughters, 30, 27, and 24 (from my first marriage), one whom just had a baby in December 2015 (the 27 year old), and two stepdaughters (14 and 17) who bring a refreshing perspective to our family! My granddaughter is now my new focus as I knit blankets and sweaters and whatever else I can think of for her. At the same time I have a renewed energy and it's time to focus on building my business and brand in pottery and glass. I can't forget about my canine companion Layla Tov, my spastic labradoodle who turned 8 this past February 5 as well as my husbands English Labradore Retriever, Oscar who will be 9 this summer. They keep us grounded, laughing, and young at heart.
In the meantime enjoy a few photos of my family:
The Five girls during our engagement photos three years ago! Where has time gone??
My high school sweetheart, now my husband, out on the North Grand Canyon during our summer trip 2015. We are both teachers which allows us to do lots of traveling together!
My three daughters, from left: My oldest (Alyssa, 30), The middle (Cassandra, 27 and very pregnant here), and the baby (Hannah, 24). Not really sure where time has gone with these three!! The lights of my life and without them encouraging me along the way pursuing my art I don't know if I would have been able to make the leap into business. Thank you girls!!
Until next time......Karen
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