Cada Johnson, a Eugene artist who won Corvallis Fall Festival’s “Best of Show” award last year, has been chosen to have her work represent this year’s event. Donele Pettit-Mieding, Executive Director of the festival wrote about her excitement of featuring Johnson’s art, “Her submission is an absolutely gorgeous piece, and I can’t wait to get the poster out into the community.”
Johnson describes herself as a 2D Mixed Media artist, working with pen, ink, pencil, acrylic paints, natural earth pigments, silkscreens, block prints and fabric. In an email interview, she wrote “textiles have always been there with me, so fabric is a crucial element to all my work.”
Always an Artist
Growing up, Johnson was surrounded by art. “I come from a family of designers. My Dad was a graphic designer who studied at the Pratt Institute in NYC in the 50s. My Mom studied landscape design at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Our house was full of books on art, art on the walls, and my Dad’s artist friends and clients. My two sisters studied art and design and are working in their fields; one as an exhibit designer and the other as a high school art teacher.
“As the youngest in the family, my path seemed so clear. I knew that I wanted to be an artist at a young age. By high school, graphic design seemed like a great option in order to be creative and make a living. I received a Bachelor in Science in Graphic Design at the University of Cincinnati.”
The University had a program that required students to work professionally in their field of study. By graduation, Johnson had worked at four different design firms all around the country in New York City, at an exhibit house in Buffalo, for a large corporation, and at a Los Angeles agency. After graduation, she realized she had never been to the Pacific Northwest, and decided to try Seattle.
“I have been on this journey of selling my art and hand crafted pieces at festivals and markets and online since 1990. I started in Seattle at the Fremont Sunday Market,” said Johnson, “for the majority of the life of my business my income came from arts festivals between Seattle and San Francisco.”
From 1990 to around 2015, Johnson sold clothing. “For about thirteen years I rented a studio space in downtown Cottage Grove where I did all the dyeing and batik work for the hand dyed, hand painted t-shirts I sold at markets,” Johnson said. Her first time exhibiting at the Corvallis Fall Festival was in 1999 due to the recommendation of other artists.
Inspired by Nature
Johnson has moved on from clothing and now sells her designs hand painted or printed on fabric scrolls, prayer flags, tapestries, prints, and patches. Nature is her inspiration for art.
“I just seemed to gravitate toward drawing foliage and fauna, and I don’t draw the human form much,” she said. “The beauty of the epic landscapes of the West have had a huge impact on me since I moved here. The earth, the forest and the natural processes of the environment are what are always calling me to celebrate them with art.”
Another inspiration is her six acres of land in Eugene, where she homesteads and has a 30 foot yurt as her studio. “The forest is my biggest muse so living close to the land is deeply satisfying for me. I live on the border of private forestland and BLM [Bureau of Land Management land] beyond that. I have woods going out my back door which is really wonderful and lovely.”
Johnson’s artwork with trees, mushrooms, as well as local fauna, have gone over well in Oregon.
Lessons Learned From the Pandemic
After decades of making a living through festivals, the pandemic shutdown Johnson’s livelihood. So she took the time to tighten things up on the business side of things.
“The pandemic got me to stay at home and to slow down. It made me appreciate my local community and how lucky I am to live where I live. When the local Saturday Market in Eugene opened up last June, I was a vendor every single weekend. It was the 30th anniversary of my business and it was the first time I had ever been a vendor at the local Market every single weekend.”
The return to her local market made Johnson grateful, and she felt as though she reconnected with the people in her adopted-hometown.
“Open air markets are a very important place for people to gather and to be able to connect with each other in real time. Seeing our world in crisis made me realize even more deeply how important community is.”
Where to See Cada Johnson’s Art
Be on the lookout for the upcoming Corvallis Fall Festival posters and promotions featuring a specially commissioned piece by Johnson. She’ll be exhibiting again at the event this coming September. Find her at the Eugene Saturday Market or check out her designs at https://www.cadajohnson.com/.
Come to the 2022 Corvallis Fall Festival September 24 and 25, held in Central Park.
By Stacey Newman Weldon
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