Carmen Cartiness Johnson
Framed Figurative original acrylic paintings
San Antonio Texas

Being self-taught, I started painting scenes from childhood summers spent in Arkansas with my grandparents. I began painting after my grandmother passed. My very first painting was from a picture of my grandmother bending over petting a dog. Her body positioning in the painting was the same as the photograph, I added a house, trees and a fence. Although the image was very raw, I felt I had stories to tell, from memories of women connecting in intimate circumstances.
I paint people in everyday situations, people in their own assumed privacy. I usually don’t paint figures with faces and would rather let their body language and clothing, address their character and define them. The places these people inhabit are mostly of my own creation.
My main objective is getting the image from my mind to the canvas. I want my work to be visually pleasing and to spark joyful memories, if nothing else, to bring a smile.