With us today is Abstract Expressionist, Clara K. Johnson. Clara is a powerhouse of wisdom, creativity, and grace. Check out her interview, and read the details of her giveaway, below:
How would you describe your work?
My artwork is created with feelings. I let the painting dictate what comes next. There isn’t much forethought given. It’s mainly subconscious. I love nature, colors and the solar system.
My spiritual path has been described to me as a self-evolution. Meaning that I choose to seek a closer relationship with Our Creator who dwells within us. A lot of times, people have to have a near death experience to in order to better understand the SELF. The SOUL.
How did this work call you?
Ever since I was a little girl, I was always painting and drawing. I just took it for granted. One day, when I was about nine, without my parents permission or knowledge, I applied to one of those mail correspondence art classes. Next thing I knew some man was at my parents door. I knew then that I was I an artist, I just didn’t know how to be. I didn’t complete the classes. Although I continue to create stuff for my bedroom, my parents’ walls, then later in my apartments I decorated them with art and all kinds of things I’d refashion.
I took my artistic gift seriously at the age of 34, about a year after my father passed away. His passing impacted me more than I knew it would at the time.
Describe your experience of spirituality as a teen/young adult.
HA!! As a teen, I like to think that I had a relationship with God. My dad was Islamic, my mom is agnostic (I think). My dad’s parents were Baptists, the mother and father of the church, in fact. I spent summers there and went to church 3 times a week! At home, we had a scattered attendance in the mosque. We didn’t eat pork, celebrate any holidays except Thanksgiving and that type of thing but there was no structure. I didn’t claim any religion but I knew there was a higher power and called on its strength often.
What’s your blessing to beginning seekers and youth exploring various spiritual traditions, today?
I would like to offer that GOD is just a word used to describe the intangible force that creates and sustains all things. Some call this force Allah, Jesus, Buddha, Jehovah. The Divine, The Universe. It’s all the same thing. It’s the labeling that keeps us divided and lost. We are all one! Apart of the Whole!
Learn more about Clara at:
- www.clarafications.com
- facebook.com/clarakjohnson
Also, if you’re in the Triangle Area of North Carolina, comment here to win a free one-on-one art class with Clara!
