Episode: 004 Artist Interview with Oil and Encaustic Painter Donna Johnson

Mark started capturing life through the lens of the camera in 1967, initially intrigued with Black and White darkroom work.  He has changed and evolved over the years as a photographer through a full career in leading 4 different Chamber of Commerce office between Michigan and Ohio.  His influences include Paul Klee, David Black and Harold Ross.  You can find Mark's website here; and see the available works I have for purchase on my website right here.  As always, comments, subscribes, likes and Love are always welcome :)

Bill and Richard have been playing together for a couple of years, both retired from careers and back to doing what they love.  During the pandemic, they continued to play together as part of each others pandemic posse.  The program that Richard spoke of, The JAM (Junior Appalachian Musician) Program in Transylvania County offers free lessons and weekly opportunities for students to play music together in an informal setting.  Lessons are offered for the guitar, mandolin, claw hammer banjo, fiddle, standup bass and song.  The teachers are working musicians with a passion to keep traditional music alive in the Appalachian region.  You fine their website here.  They also have a You Tube channel with over 100 short teaching videos for the various instruments for anyone to use!  The name of the channel is Transylvania JAM teaching videos.  What a beautiful world we live in.

Hope graduated from PCA (now University of the Arts) in 1978 with a BFA in Painting.  After having her first child,  she spent almost 30 years as a partner in a small design firm called Levan Design.  The firm specialized in graphic design, product designs and photography in the china and glass industry.  In 2005, Hope gradually made her way into her second career as an oil painter and now paints full time from her home in rural Pennsylvania.  Her work is at once realistic and impressionistic with ghosts of paintings underneath her final work.  She works for the painting to take her somewhere even if it isn't to the place that she had been envisioning.  You can visit her website here. You can view the available work at my gallery here.  You can also visit the website of her husband, Ken LeVan, who is a pretty darn special Banjo maker here.

Jeff Ripple is an oil painter who creates fine contemporary realist paintings in the Luminist and Hudson River School traditions honoring North American landscapes.  Some of the contemporary painters that have influenced him are Joseph McGurl and Erik Koeppel.  A few of the Masters that have made an impression on Jeff are Frederic Church, Albert Bierstadt and Asher Durand. 
His fellow artists that have been of immeasurable help on his road to authenticity include Clyde Butcher, Richard Currier and his wife, Susan Currier.  You can find his work on his website here and available work that I have in my gallery here.
Enjoy the conversation!

Steve thought he wanted to be a jeweler until he found metalworking.  Since graduating  with BFA from the University of Wisconsin in 1981, he has continued down the path of fine metalwork and never looked back. The principle of "Wei wu Wei" defined in the Dao Ta Ching as "Doing not Doing" has been a focus for Steve in  becoming absorbed in the action without thinking about the action.  This has allowed his gates of imagination to fly open and to follow it wherever it goes.  You can visit his website here as well as the available work at my gallery here.  As always, please like, share, comment!  

Gypsy & Me is comprised of Carolina-based duo, Mike Moore & Kyzandrha Zarate.  Together they bring a unique sound to their offerings including original Americana/Folk/Country and Acoustic music.  They have released 4 CD's with enough material to take them far into the future.  They are beautiful people and I am delighted to sit down and have a conversation with them about their life, their partnership and where this Life of music is taking them.  You can find all their goodies here.  As always, you can find my website here.  Safe and well; creative and joyful to you all!

Lyn is a Pastel Society of America Master Pastelist, an International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) Eminent Pastelist and a member of the Salmagundi Club.  Her work has appeared in collections and exhibit throughout the United States, France and China.  She is now living in a small town in Maine after 35 years in Florida, where she grew up.  You can view her work on her website,  Lynasselta.com or on my website, Lucyclarkgallery.com.  She is also represented by Cutter and Cutter Fine Art Galleries in St. Augustine, FL., as well as Gleason Fine Art in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

Marc Brown was influenced at a young age by music but moved away from it to become a Dentist.  He found his love again for music at the age of 50 when, very suddenly, his life made a very large turn toward a new chapter in his life.  Since then, he has developed his skills as a musician and singer and with it, creating a legacy through playing the old, the recognizable and the beloved music of  Gus Cannon, Gene Autry , "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine and The Phantom Empire.  Also, there is a link for the song meaning of "The Midnight Special".  Marc's website can be found here.  As always, find me here.  Thanks for listening!  I promise, you won't regret it :)

Chris began her journey with paint about 15 years ago and has quickly developed her skills in oil.  She lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband and is constantly inspired by the hues of the landscape and the wildlife that inhabit it.  You can see a large body of her work on her website here.  You can also see the work available in the gallery here.  She is also represented by Fine Art at Baxters in New Bern, NC.  

Julie Willan found her love for art at a very young age and has pursued it in a myriad of different ways her entire life.  3 years ago, she came across a technique called Fumage which has entirely changed the direction of her work to incredible results.  You can view her available work at my gallery here or see some of her archived work and read more about her on her website here.  You can also view her Facebook or Instagram feed @juliewillanfineart or or mine @thelucyclarkgalleryandstudio on Facebook as well as Instagram.  
This technique is truly fascinating and one that I hope you will enjoy.  Reach out by commenting, liking or subscribing!