Sean Mary Helen Johnson, Artist Statement

Make-Believe

Adventure was a game we called “Make-Believe” out on the ranch where I grew up. I used to make-believe I was a dancer, an artist, a tight-rope walker, a writer. All kinds of things happened in my mind that were exciting to me. My dad once told me when I was learning to read that I could go anywhere if I could read and I wouldn’t even have to leave my chair. That sounded like a great adventure to me.

So I’ve long had the idea that adventures happen in our minds, our imaginations. Just wait, be patient and around the corner is some kind of magic. Make-Believe also became a way for me to create my own reality, making it more mine and less about what was happening around me. Drawing was my first love, uprooted in me for awhile by misguided educators who thought it was unimportant, even dangerous, leading to nonsense and daydreaming, lying and laziness. The unknown and “outside the box” is scary.

But I love Make-Believe. And Make-Believe goes along with the Dark, Monsters, Fairies and Leprechauns. Can’t have the Light without the Shadow. So I have taken back my magical creative world. We live in one big schoolhouse and its a helluva lot more fun with Make-Believe. That’s how I got to be here and now. The more I let go, the more the stories and images become about that game of Make-Believe I began playing so long ago. What you see in my studio and gallery is the result of that game.

So join me in playing Make-Believe. Come visit.