Episode 080 - Erica Johnson

In today's episode, I welcome Erica Johnson! Erica owns her own business providing hair, skin, and makeup services to customers in the Kansas City area and beyond, and she is a prolific artist, always learning and taking courses in new art forms, including photography, metal-smithing, and more. She shares how she can retain hope even when life has thrown way too many curveballs at her over the last two years, and the ways that art has played a powerful role in her healing journey.

 

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Episode 080 - Erica Johnson

[00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hello, and welcome to Artfully Told, where we share true stories about meaningful encounters with art.

[00:00:06] Krista: I think artists help people have different perspectives on every aspect of life.

[00:00:12] Roman: All I can do is put my part in to the world.

[00:00:15] Elizabeth: It doesn't have to be perfect the first time. It doesn't have to be perfect ever really. I mean, as long as you, and you're enjoying doing it and you're trying your best, that can be good enough.

[00:00:23] Elna: Art is something that you can experience with your senses and that you just experiences as so beautiful.

[00:00:31] Lindsey Dinneen: Hello and welcome back to another episode of Artfully Told. I'm your host Lindsey and I am so very delighted to have as my guest today, Erica Johnson. Erica is an amazing human being first and foremost, absolutely lovely person with so much to share and offer the world. And I'm so excited that she's here, but she is also an amazing artist and has not just dabbled, but become proficient in, many different art forms. And she just brings a wealth of experience and expertise as well as perspective that is so unique. And so, Erica, thank you so much for being here today. I'm so excited to have you.

[00:01:14] Erica Johnson: Thank you for having me.

[00:01:16] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, of course. Well, I would love if you wouldn't mind sharing just a little bit about your background, maybe how you got involved in art in the first place and, you know, kind of where your career has, has led you, if you don't mind.

[00:01:30] Erica Johnson: Sure. So basically I do hair and skin for a living. It's something I've always wanted to do. I've always wanted to just sort of make a woman feel beautiful, not just on the outside though, more or less on the inside as well, because we all know beauty fades. And you know I've been doing it since 2009 and it's what started as just me doing like hair and skin. I kind of dabbled into working with models and traveling. And then, you know, years later, I mean, I became self-employed and my business has turned a little more into like a ministry. So I it's, it's really cool to see how God works in my business and how he sends like-minded people too, whether it's the strength in me or me to strengthen them through encouragement from God or just a word of prayer.

[00:02:37] And leading up to that I, since 2020 have had just a really hard, hard circumstances obviously with the COVID situation, but I've had significant amount of losses in my life. From February last year, leading up to currently September, this year I've lost 12 people, family and friends. And so with being in support groups and just in different Bible studies I decided to just sort of get my hands into photography and metal- smithing. And so I've been taking a couple of classes, a way just to sort of express my grief, but also make sure it glorifies God. I, I just sort of use art to express my pain, but also what the elements, whether it be scripture inspired or just whatever God leads me to, but I express it through art, if that makes sense.

[00:03:43] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. Well, and I know, like you've mentioned, you've had quite a bit of loss over the last couple of years, and I'm sure that has informed a lot of your life, of course, but I think it's really interesting that you've chosen to use art as an outlet to express what you need to, what you need to express, but then also that you have chosen to do it informs that have deep meaning for yourself. But then, I think, also could really maybe help other people as they're struggling ma