About

Kayla Johnson (b. 1988)  is a watercolor artist from Washington State. She attended Washington State University where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting. After college Kayla and her husband Tohny moved to Astoria Oregon and during her time on the Oregon coast Kayla was inspired by her surroundings with many of her paintings featuring coastal themes. Several of her pieces hung in the Imogen Gallery in downtown Astoria.

Recently Kayla and Tohny, with the addition of their daughter Stella, have moved back to their hometown of Omak Washington. After the birth of her daughter Kayla took a year off to focus on being a stay at home mom. With a change of scenery Kayla has begun to explore new themes in her artwork.

Statement from the artist:

Living on the Oregon coast heavily influenced the work I produced during my time there. The ocean inspired feelings of nostalgia that you can’t quite place. The passing ships that moved slowly by Astoria and the crashing waves against the jetty rocks always came to mind when I sat down in front of a blank sheet of paper.

Since moving back to Washington my inspiration has shifted. The views of the ocean have been replaced by mountain ranges as far as you can see. Instead of ocean waves there are rows of orchards bright green against the brown of sagebrush. I feel excitement in my work with this new change of scenery; a challenge to create in a place I never expected to come back to. The themes of women and hair are still consistent in my work but the scenes around them have changed.