How Art Helped Artist Karen Johnston Stay Present, Open and Connected
👁 72 Views
For this Arts to Hearts Project interview, we spoke with Karen Johnston, a Nashville-based abstract painter who finds inspiration in nature, emotion, and life’s unexpected turns. In this conversation, Karen shares how painting helped her navigate illness, caregiving, and significant life changes—becoming not just a means to create, but a way to heal and connect.
She opens up about her childhood surrounded by music, how her love of writing and drawing shaped her current work, and how she brings those experiences into her community practice. Through her story, we learn how art can be a steady hand during uncertain times and how creative expression can help us stay present, open, and connected.
Karen Johnston is a featured artist in our book, “101 ArtBook – Abstract Edition” You can explore her journey and the stories of other artists by purchasing the book here:
https://shop.artstoheartsproject.com/products/the-creative-process-book
Nashville-based artist Karen Johnston tucks wisps of emotion into painted layers of nature and life. Her process produces images that evoke a sense of familiarity, yet spark the imagination to find a personal meaning. Originally from Cincinnati, OH, she earned a BFA in Illustration from the Columbus College of Art and Design. Over time, her art evolved from realism to abstraction as she continued to refine her innermost artistic vision. An ultimate focus on abstract expressionism granted her the freedom to combine emotion, knowledge and energy with her own set of experiences and observations.
Much of her art stems from the healing journey (hers and others’) and from her devoted time in nature. With the belief that art heals, I begin each canvas with a foundation of spontaneously painted content, then intuitively respond by adding layers of acrylic glazes, automatic drawing and writing. Repeatedly scraping back to the origins underneath, an active dialogue emerges. It reflects my inner wanderings through relationships, solitude, and a sense of spirit.
My aim is not to replicate but to feel my way around the canvas with attention and intention. No stroke is ever wasted. Each adds to the outcome left behind for the viewer to ponder. My paintings are translations of life’s journey – one of ordinary moments, connection, whim, and light. My work can be found in galleries and numerous private and corporate collections across the country.
1. You come from a family of musicians—how did you know visual art was your path?
Music is a powerful source of inspiration for me, and I appreciate it sincerely. Even before I was born, I was exposed to music. My mom was a music educator, and my dad was a symphony musician, so there was always music in our home. I attended numerous classical concerts and performances throughout my childhood and adolescence. I was also always creating art, studying ballet, participating in theatre and drama experiences, playing the piano, and trying a variety of instruments. I had access and encouragement to try all sorts of art forms, given that I came from a family working in the arts.
However, the greatest joy I got from music was letting it infiltrate my body and move me. Music opened me in ways that little else could do. I saw colours, felt intense emotion and found that I could best express those experiences through dance and art-making. Its influence has always guided me to explore those transcendent encounters through other media. Distilling melodies, harmonies, dissonance and rhythm into movement and paint felt meaningful. That insight led me to stay on a visual path and ultimately compose with paint. I followed my heart and found my way.
Art helps make the invisible visible.
Karen Johnston
2. How has your lifelong love for drawing and writing influenced your abstract work today?
Drawing and writing are the core of my practice. I was classically trained, so I spent many years sketching, observing, and drawing realistically – learning form, perspective, line quality, etc. I have always enjoyed writing as an artistic medium, and I also have a regular journaling practice. Over the years, I’ve used drawing and writing as a way to express, process, and problem-solve. On a physical level, my body is used to the movements and flow of drawing and writing (and dance, too).
Often, as I approach a blank canvas, I instinctively dip into my roots and begin a painting by simply stepping into the flow of movement that I am accustomed to and have developed through my drawing and writing habits. Throughout my painting process, bits of personal history will show up as literal or asemic writing, calligraphic marks, lyrical flow, and line work. I often incorporate charcoal and graphite pencil into my abstract acrylic paintings because it’s natural to vacillate between those familiar mediums and ways of creating. It feels like me. I don’t believe there is a right or wrong way to make it. It’s about leaning into what you love.
3. What role has art played in your healing, and how has that shaped the work you do with others?
Art-making is an essential avenue for me to explore and care for myself. As an artist (and even as a writer) I have long felt the need to ponder and enunciate life beyond words. Adequate verbiage doesn’t always arrive or even exist in the moments needing the strongest and most sensitive expression. In my late 30s, married and with three young children, I was “out of the blue” diagnosed with cancer. It was then that I realised this truth most fully. That health crisis is what prompted me to turn towards abstract expressionism wholeheartedly. Even though my art had already evolved from realism to non-representational works, I knew my art could still serve me better.
Allowing myself to create art based on my interior landscape rather than external inspiration was life-changing. Everything about me shifted as I began to quiet the outside world and mine for inner truth. Blending personal experience, expression, meditation, mindset, and the fundamental principles of art (colour theory, value, temperature, composition, shape, line, etc.) brought forth a newfound freedom and an essential alignment of head, heart, and hands. It presented a direction that not only felt challenging but also limitless. As life continued, several more critical health events and circumstances entered my family’s life, calling me into various roles of concentrated caregiving.
My art practice has organically grown with me and still unflinchingly holds space for me to heal and navigate life’s many ups and downs. It provides a tangible way to appreciate the inherent beauty within both light and darkness. Knowing that health challenges are universal and often overwhelming, I was inspired to start an ongoing circle of encouragement and connection for others with cancer, life-changing illnesses, and caregivers back in 2011. I also started sharing and teaching art as a personal form of expression. Helping others gain support and discover a creative lifeline was something positive I could bring forward from my struggles. Life will forever throw curveballs, but with a system in place for self-care, support and expression, it will feel easier. No one needs to journey alone.
My creative process deepens within devoted solitude. My studio practice provides a vast space to ask profound questions and engage in dialogue with life. These private hours of sanctuary not only offer me the opportunity to release and open to unspoken layers, but they have also heightened my awareness of interconnectedness. Recognising the significance of a single relationship underscores the importance of community even more. This incredible art journey isn’t just for me. I think we’ve all seen, through the Covid years, how much we need each other and how much we can be of service to one another.
Understanding this fundamental truth has enlightened me to strive for a healthy balance between solitude and village. I enjoy personal time in my studio as well as “paint days” with friends and colleagues. Creating time and space for others to learn and explore how creativity and connection can enhance their own lives feels valuable. Teaching classes, workshops, mentoring and doing community work allows me to share the bounty of life lessons I’ve learned on canvas. Those same offerings also humble me, enlighten me, and guide me along my path, thanks to the tender pieces and parts of humanity that are brought to my attention. This cycle of giving and receiving produces the seeds that are watered right in front of my easel and tended to in my heart and imagination. There is joy in being part of this rhythm. There is joy in sharing.
It’s about leaning into what you love.
Karen Johnston
5. Your paintings often feel familiar yet open-ended—how do you strike that balance in your layers?
The shining light in my work is life (body, mind, and spirit) and interconnectedness, yet I never want to let nature’s wisdom out of the spotlight. Nature feeds my soul. I have outdoor space right off my studio. I take frequent breaks outside to sustain my focus and inspiration. I love the outdoors. It teaches me while simultaneously refreshing me. I believe, and I’ve been told, that the influence of human emotion, alongside the significance of nature, can be felt in my paintings.
Given that my sources of inspiration are universal, my work (even though abstract) genuinely feels relatable. And, since my work is a constant dialogue, it doesn’t aim for any particular outcome. It welcomes the viewer to the conversation! The painted exchanges between a sense of vastness and the human condition always find unity, while the suggestion of balance comes through the practice of letting go and trusting the process. It’s the simple yet physical act of painting that intuitively brings this wisdom forward, then offers space for reflection and connection.
6. What have the stories and relationships you’ve encountered through caregiving and connection taught you as an artist?
I feel blessed and grateful to walk alongside countless others on their healing journeys – family members, friends, and strangers alike. Everyone, regardless of health status, seems to be on some quest towards wholeness and purpose, including me. However, a journey involving any vulnerability can quickly thin the veil of consciousness, allowing one to consider new and different perspectives.
Companioning people during challenges not only offers support but opens space for a rich amount of growth and awareness to be shared. During these times, I have certainly witnessed fear, doubt, and suffering, but what has made a lasting impression on me, both as a person and as an artist, is the rise. The profound grit, resilience, love, hope, and courage that lie deep within all of us are finally given a chance to soar. Watching this progression towards authenticity in search of genuine faith and power is inspirational. The intentionality that is summoned to heal feels similar to the energy needed to create. It’s soft yet firm, mysterious and expansive.
It’s a change. As an artist, transforming all these personal and shared moments of revelation into paint feels necessary. How else could these wordless and inexplicable experiences of possibility be captured? And isn’t that what life is all about? Possibility? Art helps make the invisible visible. We all need reminders and honest reflections (as creators and viewers) of the beauty along this path and of our ultimate strength and connection. How could we ever truly see without the vision that art affords us?
Karen Johnston’s work invites us into a space where life’s ordinary moments and quiet observations are layered with feeling and shaped by time. Her paintings are made through a process of adding and removing, of listening and responding, and they speak to both the calm and chaos of life. From early influences in music to her current work in painting, teaching, and caregiving, Karen’s journey shows how creativity can offer both a path forward and a space to rest. Through her story, we’ve seen that making art isn’t just about what shows up on the canvas—it’s also about what it opens in us.
To learn more about Karen, click the following links to visit her profile.
Arts to Hearts Project is a global media, publishing, and education company for
Artists & Creatives: An international audience will see your work of art, patrons, collectors, gallerists, and fellow artists: access exclusive publishing opportunities and over 1,000 resources to grow your career and connect with like-minded creatives worldwide. Click here to learn about our open calls.
