While on vacation my painter friend Amanda Millis and I got the chance to meet one of my all time favorite artists in person: Mitchell Johnson.

Some of the things he said have really stuck with me and I wanted to share them with you: (I didn’t record our conversation so with his permission I’ll paraphrase)

- Illusion is a convention and perhaps a side effect- not the end goal

- Take a look at Fairfield Porter’s paintings— look at the color in the shadows!

- Don’t pay attention to mark making too much. Mark making is like breathing- it happens naturally. You may, however, pay attention to your marks in the same way one might follow one’s breath during a yoga practice. It’s the sort of attention one uses to become centered but not self conscious.

- Don’t pursue being good, because you might arrive.

- Wanting to be good can get in the way of paying attention

- Some goals: to feel a sense of fortunate grace in your practice, to know moments of elation, and to know something intimately

- Each new painting one makes is like another room where you can keep exploring.

- The correct color is the color that says “something special is going on here”- the color that you feel is right

- There is not one correct color, there are only moments

- There is not one harmony or rightness to reach towards, but infinite possibilities
-“Ninth Street Women” by Mary Gabriel is a great book about key female players in the art world- a worthwhile read!

I just got my copy of Ninth Street Women in the mail- so psyched to read it!