Bring on the Texas Heat!

While most North Texans are seeking a cool place to hide from the sweltering heat, artist Wendy Johnson is hard at work harnessing the natural power of the sun.

BEDFORD, TX -- July 11, 2002 --Stepping back to inspect her artwork and wipe the sweat from her brow before it drips onto the canvas, local artist Wendy Johnson is hard at work harnessing the natural drying powers of the stifling summer heat. Her richly layered and boldly textured works of art demand a lot of patience and restraint to allow for adequate drying time between each layer of design. Normally, much of her painting time is spent holding a hair dryer over the canvas so she can get on with creative work of adding the next layer.

That is, unless the forecast calls for more dog days of summer. "Personally, I prefer Goldilocks weather. You know, not too hot, not too cold, but just right", says Ms. Johnson "but as an artist, nothing beats the sweltering heat of a summer day." While most North Texans are groaning about the 100-degree heat of July and seeking a cool place to hide, this artist is busy preparing artwork for an August gallery show. The show is titled "Above the Noise" and explores the hopes and dreams of everyday people and their struggle to bring those dreams to life. It is a struggle with which she is very familiar as she brings the dream of a successful, full-time art career to fruition while juggling the demands of a rich family life.

She gets her toddler off to daycare, slaps on some sunscreen and gets to work in the hottest part of the day in the driveway or on the patio -- anywhere there is full, raging heat from the sun. She often stages works-in-process on top of a line of boxwood shrubs along the driveway or in the covered bed of her pickup truck where the painted finish is quickly baked on. "My creative process is fluid and the ideas are sometimes fleeting. The quicker I can get my thoughts onto canvas, the better. The finished work is more intuitively captured than when Im stalled by drying time." She adds, "Of course, my neighbors must think Im nuts."

With this process, Ms. Johnson can shave days, even weeks, off the time it takes to complete her sophisticated designs. Working outside also allows her to expand beyond the space constraints of her home studio. Here she can find the elbowroom to complete a 6 x 7 painting commissioned by a local collector while other pieces cure in the sun. "I have so many ideas I would need two lifetimes to commit them all to canvas. Being able harness the suns heat and work more quickly is artistically liberating," says Johnson Bring on the Texas heat!"

The recent rash of rain storms ceased just in time to allow the Bedford artist to continue work for her August 16th gallery show "Above the Noise" at Dulce Interior Consignment Showplace, 2914 Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas. She is on schedule to unveil more than twenty never before seen original works for the exhibit that opens with a Friday evening reception, 8P- Midnight, and runs through Sunday, August 18, 2002.

Original artwork by Wendy Johnson is now held in private collections throughout the United States with presentations in Texas, California, Florida, Illinois and Oregon.

Wendy Johnson creates one-of-a-kind original artwork from her home studio in Bedford, Texas. Her work is displayed in three local galleries including Dulce Interior Consignment Showplace. For additional information on Original Art by Wendy Johnson, please visit her web site at http://www.WendyTheArtist.com or call 817-282-0403 (home studio). Full media packets including artist photo (black & white or color), bio, resume, and 35mm-color slides of artwork are available.

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