PORT TOWNSEND — Even in a town full of artists, few have exhibited in local galleries for half their lives — and of this group, Stephanie Johnson of Kent, who began exhibiting here when she was 11 years old, may be unique.
“I’m home-schooled, and when I was 9 years old, my mom’s friend suggested that I pursue art,” said Johnson, now 21.
“They gave me a watercolor set, and as soon as the first drop of paint hit the paper, I knew that this is what I wanted to do.”
Johnson started painting still lifes and landscapes.
Andrea Guarino, a friend of Johnson’s mother who had just opened Artisans on Taylor, was impressed enough that she gave the precocious 11-year-old her very own show.
Johnson’s show has become an Artisans on Taylor tradition, and she has exhibited every July at the gallery for the past 10 years.
This continued after Guarino sold the gallery to Teresa Verraes, who then sold it to the current owner, Anna Nasset.
Johnson is exhibiting through this month at the gallery, which moved from its original location on Taylor Street to a new home earlier this year at 911 Water St.
The reception for “Celebrating 10 Years of Painting” was July 7.
“For someone her age, you don’t see the level of commitment and the skill set,” Nasset said.
“It’s really unheard of. She paints like an old master.”
Johnson lives with her parents in Kent, where she works out of a “little nook” adjacent to the kitchen.
Johnson produces both small and large paintings and sells them for prices ranging from $95 to $1,500, earning enough to cover her expenses and pay for tuition at the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, where she has just finished her third year of schooling.
“I treat the small and large paintings differently,” Johnson said.
“The larger ones are detailed studies of a scene, while the smaller ones are little gems that you can hang on your wall.”
She produces about 50 paintings a year, working on five at a time.
Once she finishes school, she said, she will be able to increase her output.
“There is only so much work you can do on a single painting because you need to wait for each layer to dry,” she said.
Johnson is working on a layering technique “that makes it look like there is light coming out from behind the trees. It almost glows.”
Johnson doesn’t think Port Townsend has changed all that much during the years she has exhibited in town — but she has.
“When I first came here, I’d spend all my spare time going to the toy stores,” she said.
“Now I’ll go to the parks and look at the landscapes, taking pictures and figuring out what to paint next.”
Johnson occasionally takes an easel and paints outside but does most of her work inside during the wintertime.
“Representational art, where you paint a realistic scene, is part of a dying breed,” she said.
“Most artists are doing more abstract things.”
She doesn’t feel competitive with other artists but said that might change when she starts exhibiting in more galleries.
Nasset doesn’t know what Johnson’s art will be like in another 10 years.
“I can’t wait to see what she’ll be doing, but her skill will continue to evolve,” Nasset said.
“I’ll be interested to see what she does with the subject matter, whether she continues with the landscapes or just goes crazy.”
Artisans on Taylor is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information, visit www.StephanieKJohnson.com.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.