Johanna Westerman grew up in Southern California. She began drawing when she was two years old, and spent hours listening to her favorite records while filling sketch books with her fairy tale inspirations. She attended Scripps College in Claremont, California, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Studio Art. Upon graduation, Johanna enrolled in the illustration program at the Rhode Island School of Design. Through her professors, she met a children's book agent in New York and signed her first book contract at 22.
Johanna moved back to the Pasadena area where she was married. In the year 2000, with six picture books now completed, she and her husband welcomed their first babies; triplets Jack, Sam and Catherine. The following year their fourth child Anna was born. Needless to say, her career was put on hold for a few years. Today, the children are in school, and Johanna has picked up where she left off, very happy to be back to her illustrations. She has the best inspirations constantly swirling around her, all too happy to participate in sharpening pencils or modeling poses.
As a child, I was transfixed by detail. Detail still attracts me. I never tire of finding new little things to tuck in here and there. I knew when I grew up, I would continue to bring the same obsession with detail into my artwork.
As an illustrator, my job is to bring the written word to life. As a fine artist, it is to express my innermost self. Through careful observation and the use of line and color I can escape to the world of my imagination, where images fill my mind and pour out meticulously through my pencils and paintbrushes.
For me, art is a process of discovery. I constantly ask myself, "What else can I fit in this picture that will surprise my viewers?" I am caught up in an obsessive attempt to engage my viewers with something new each and every time they look at my drawings and paintings. My audience is everyone, young and old. I like to create work that will be inspirational to all, inviting those creative minds to look closer. As in life, you never know what you might be missing.
To contact Johanna, you can send her an email.
