An old box of postcards is what got painter, Mandy Johnson, started on her art career. Growing up in the tiny town of Scotland Neck, NC, the local school offered no art classes. However, Mandy’s parents saw the value of art education and saw to it that all five of their children took art lessons from a local artist. A collection of fine art postcards provided inspiration for the children to copy, while learning to oil paint.
It wasn’t until Mandy’s first art history course in college that she began to recognize the famous paintings from those old postcards. Mandy’s parent’s home was filled with copies of Gauguin, Monet and Van Gogh, although nobody knew it at the time. They were just pretty pictures.
While educated in the classics and with years of realistic figure drawing, Mandy now expresses her rebellious side. “I like to break the rules” says Mandy. “Exaggeration and distortion and bold, simple color give my figures attitude.” Her paintings have familiar themes of work and food and dance stemming from her early life growing up on farm.
“Now I find inspiration whenever I go out, take a walk or ride my bike. Everything I see can be interpreted as shape, form and color to create a story.”
Click here to view Mandy's latest paintings!
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