The Lounging People of Carol Kiefer Johnson's Paintings

by Bob Bahr, PV Arts Council member

"Cat Lover," acrylic, 40 x 30 in.

It's possible to go to the finest art schools and ateliers in the world and emerge with incredible painting skills but have nothing to say. It's also possible to be a self-taught artist and paint fascinating, thought-provoking work bursting with a unique artistic vision. Exhibit A: Carol Kiefer Johnson.

Johnson's work is part of a group show now view at the R. G. Endres Gallery, in the Prairie Village Municipal Offices, until May 4. Visitors there will note how Johnson combines lush textures and patterns, vibrant color, arresting figures who stare back at the viewer, and nods to art history to create paintings that don't so much tell a story but rather create a mood. That mood is often luxurious, leisurely, languid, and pretty. It all comes naturally to Johnson.

"I don't really plan anything," she says. "I don't have a plan to use this pattern or that color. It just sort of happens as I go along. Checks and polka dots just make me happy, so I try to get them in. I don't give the paintings too much thought at the time. I look at it and think, I just want a flat space here or a color there, and I put it down."

Her beginnings on paintings are equally spontaneous. "I start out thinking I'm going to do this painting very technically correct, but it's like your handwriting--it just sort of happens," says Johnson. "I decide that today I'm going to paint, and sometimes the dimensions or the shape of the canvas suggest something. I usually start with a face, and then that face suggests what this person is doing or thinking, and then I sort of go from there. I want people to like the paintings, but I also want them to get a kick out of them."

"Don't Look Now," acrylic, 36 x 24 in.

What's next for the artist? "I would love to go bigger. The size of that peacock painting ("Bella Asiatique Journee," 48"-x-48") I love, and I'd like to go even bigger than that. But it gets harder and harder to schlep things around that are that big--I'm not getting younger."

What does Johnson want the viewer to feel, coming away from her paintings? "I'd like for them to look at the paintings and think about how they feel. What difference does it make how the artist feels? What do you, as the viewer, think about it? I find that what I feel and what the other person feels are two different things. What I feel is that life is a beautiful thing, and I want people to feel that."

Johnson's work, on view at the municipal building on Mission Road, hangs alongside two other local artists--David Coss and Bryce Holt. The current show featuring these three artists will be on view at the R. G. Endres until May 5, but a choice selection of pieces from the three will stay on view at the Meadowbrook Park Clubhouse until July 6.
 
Bob Bahr is a member of the Prairie Village Arts Council. He has written about visual art for several national magazines. He lives with his family in Prairie Village and paints a variety of subjects. He wishes there were a NYC-style bodega in the Shops.