Meet Amber Johnson | Visual Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amber Johnson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amber, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Before I started my artistry business, I was a teacher. My work life balance was terrible. I have 2 kids, a husband, and pets, so my home life is demanding. Teaching is not a career that lends itself to a healthy work life balance, and I was honestly completely burned out. I was not sure how I was going to continue to keep up, especially as my kids got older and involved in after school activities! My husband encouraged me to leave teaching to pursue my own artistry business, and it was the best decision I’ve made in my career so far! While I still loved teaching with my whole heart, I knew my husband was right, and it was time to leave it in the rearview mirror. Once I opened my own business, my days became so much more flexible and I was able to modify my schedule to fit my personal life! It has been so freeing and I have been a better wife, mom, and all around person since. I still have to be careful not to let my work life take over too much since painting is extremely mind and time consuming, but I find it so much easier to achieve balance now.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My journey to being an artist was not an easy one, including about 5 years of not touching a paintbrush when I became a mom and wife! My husband knew I had minored in studio art in college, although I never took a painting class. However, I’d never really shown him any of my work, and he never knew me to touch a paintbrush. So, he was pretty shocked 3 years into our marriage when he found out I painted. A close family friend, who has known me my whole life, randomly asked me to paint a pet portrait in 2018. I thought she was crazy, and had zero faith in myself that I could make it happen. She convinced me to give it a shot, and the rest is history. I’ve grown from pet portraits, to any style commission, to live wedding paintings from there. When I finally let go of the idea that I’d never make a career as an artist, I began to really grow as an artist. I try to mostly mix my own colors of paint, so many of the hues you see in my paintings are a custom mix. I love getting lost in the details of a scene, and when I paint it almost feels like I’m carving the picture out of the canvas. To me, it feels like the blank canvas gets chipped away little by little, layer by layer, until I find the painting. I want people to know that I want each painting to be as incredibly special to them as it is to me. I carefully compose and “carve” all the details until it feels like the painting is a piece of my soul.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My best friend lives 5 minutes down the road from me, so luckily we get to experience a lot of life together! We aren’t much for the city scene, but we could certainly be found at the NC Museum of Art!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are a few people that are completely deserving of a Shoutout who have loved and supported me and my business! I’ll choose one to keep it short and sweet, my grandfather. He is no longer with us, passing well before I opened my business. However, he was always one of my biggest fans. He always encouraged me to know my value, and he truly saw me for who I am. He was a solid rock for me to stand on as I grew up. My business name, Wildflower Artistry, comes directly from a memory with him. We were in the car listening to the radio when Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers” began playing. He looked at me, giggled a little, and said “it’s you. You’re a wildflower.” Let me tell you, truer words have never been spoken. He saw me as a wildflower, even though I was growing up in a town where you were expected to behave a certain way, dress a certain way, and act accordingly. To those on the outside, I looked like the perfect product of my hometown. He knew on the inside, I was quite the opposite. In my heart, I was growing like a field of wildflowers, not like a perfectly manicured garden. I miss him everyday, and I know he’d be so proud to see life’s journey leading me to opening Wildflower!

Website: www.wildflowerartistry.com

Instagram: wildflowerartistry_benson

Facebook: www.facebook.com/wildflowerbenson

TikTok: @wildflowerartistry