Crows, Shows and Solos
- Victoria Johnson
- Mar 30
- 4 min read
The Crow Show
The start of my busy art season heralded in two back to back opening receptions. On Saturday March 15, the reception for The Crow Show at The Studio Door in San Diego brought in a large crowd of art aficionados and those who dig crows and other blackbirds.
In the eleven years since its inception, The Crow Show has become an anticipated tradition in the San Diego art community. The over two hour drive was well worth it to be part of this lively reception for all the wonderful works on display from artists across the country. With this being a show that features the cream of the crop in corvidae, it truly was an honor to show Consider the Ravens and The Prophet and the Ravens in this popular annual show.
During the reception, a visitor and I struck up a conversation where she started telling me, in no uncertain tones, how much she hated crows. I found her diatribe amusing, and ironic, considering the theme of the show. After more than a few minutes of politely listening to all the crows' nefarious schemes and how they seemed put on this earth to annoy her, I told her my artwork featured ravens. A moment of blessed silence before she responded, 'Oh, ravens,' and wandered away. In the six years I've been an exhibiting artist, I've met all kinds at an opening reception and I'm never disappointed by their capacity to be entertaining.
The Solo Show
Sunday, March 16 saw another opening reception, this one for my fifth solo show, Travels Near, Far and Beyond at the La Habra Art Association gallery in La Habra.
What Neptune Didn't Know had its place of honor at the entrance to the gallery. This apocalyptic-themed, hand-painted surfboard gets a lot of attention and inquiries wherever it shows, but this is one piece that's NFS and will remain in my own personal collection.
Besides the artworks that feature scenes of the near, far and beyond, there were engaging activities representative of different cultures; a haiku poetry and drawing exercise, as well as basic dance instruction by yours truly. I taught the attendees a few dance steps featured in cumbia and belly dance, then ended it with a lively circle of Hava Nagila. The president of the gallery said it was the most fun reception she'd attended during her tenure in the gallery. To our way of thinking, art receptions shouldn't just be about visitors coming to ooo and aaah over the artworks and give the artist(s) congratulatory pats on the back. It's about engaging visitors and forming a community through activity and interaction.
Teaching dance steps and a group shot of our fearless dancers
Upcoming Show: 13th Biennial Ontario Open
For the second time, my art has been invited into the Ontario Open art exhibition at the Ontario Museum of History and Art. This year's exhibition will show my award-winning piece, Outmoded Time Machine (awarded Best Painting by California Welcome Center and the Desert Regional Tourism Agency in 2023).
This biennial juried exhibition features the contemporary artworks of over 100 artists from across Southern California. Visitors will get a chance to experience artwork in a variety of mediums from oil paintings, ceramics and watercolor to photography, collage, and other mediums. The exhibition will be on display from Thursday, May 1 – Sunday, July 20, 2025 with reception on Saturday, May 3 from 2-4 pm. Stop by and see the incredible artworks from many talented local artists across the southland. Hope to see you at the reception!
The Ontario Museum of History and Art is located at 225 Euclid Ave. Ontario CA
New Artwork, New Series
Let's take a sneak peek at a new series in progress, Diner Culture, with the first in the series titled Midnight Diner (16x20). My current plan is to create six or seven pieces for the Diner Culture series, but that will depend on how much fun I have creating each piece. So far I've had a blast with this one.
The Technique:
Midnight Diner consists of 77 layers that comprise the lighting, shadows, and texture. It's this signature multi-layering process I use that takes my digital art from the initial flat vector sketch to a piece with movement, mood and depth. At least that's the goal with each piece I create and to get there, I meticulously manipulate and blend layer upon layer of various effects and textures (using Photoshop) until I feel the piece is finished to my satisfaction. This varies from piece to piece as I have artwork with as few as fifteen layers of effects to some with over 100.
The Inspiration:
There are certain things I'm drawn to (see what I did there?)—mid-century modernism, tiki culture, classic cars, neon signs, road trips, and cafes along the lonely highways of a bygone era. A friend commented that Midnight Diner isn't my usual style of creation, that my subject matter is usually more 'fallen world doom and gloom'. Au contraire. I do have many collections within my work, one of them being things retro, such as the piece below. A Tiki's Taile (2018) was one of my earliest of creations when I was just a budding Sketchie, not yet a 'serious' artist and just having fun. After all, what could be more retro, and fun, than a landlocked mermaid with her tiki pals, smoking a cigarillo while a volcano blows in the background? Not much, I imagine.
For His Glory
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