Bobby Johnson Jr.
I consider myself an artist, self taught with formal training consisting of basic art classes from high school which I ironically failed. Born and raised in Las Cruces. I have had an ever growing curiosity with the Southwest and its inhabitants and attracted to the Native American culture in and around New Mexico. Native American culture is where I get the majority of my inspiration from. The spirituality of the stories and legends which can be complex and yet pleasingly simple is what makes it so interesting. Often I take an idea, such as a Kachina doll, a “well traveled story”, or a legend and amp it up. I tell people, the best way to describe my work is Southwest Fantasy Art, since I now tend to stray very far from tradition. I do what I do because I love it plain and simple. There’s just something about it that refuses to leave my heart.
I started drawing and sketching when I was in elementary school and continued into middle school. Around this time, my dad had purchased a scroll saw and I got my first taste of wood works. I started learning things with him like silhouette cut outs, refrigerator magnets, and toy cars but always had this curiosity about Kachina dolls. I don’t know what it was about them, but I just gravitated towards the stories. To me they were this myth, but at the same time very much existed in the minds and hearts of many. For me that put them up on the whimsical pedestal of dragons, wizards and other mythical beast and beings.
I always wanted a Kachina doll but couldn’t afford one so one night in my dad’s shop I sat there thinking how hard can this be? My dad's interest in woodworking soon changed and so I took over the shop. Needless to say many of my first attempts have disappeared for good reason. Unfortunately, my mom and Nana own a few of my first attempts, complete with neon craft feathers and vinyl seat cover material for sashes, and they refuse to let me remake them.
I have learned many times in my life you always have to start somewhere and work up from there. You must always work your hardest because no matter how good you get, there’s always someone better than you. So I try very hard to outdo myself every time I step into the shop. I can't even begin to tell you how many half finished dolls have been thrown against the shop walls, became firewood, chucked across the yard, even turned into my dogs chew toys. If I’m not happy with it, it's trashed. I am my own worst critic and I have yet to fully please myself.
In my "rebellious" teens I got heavily into street art, all legal I swear. I started experimenting with tattoo flash art, contemporary art, pin-up art and Tribal art but my love for the southwest style kept pulling me back. I wanted to pull it all into my Southwest art somehow. At first I wasn’t sure how it would be received. Many of my carvings were very close to what I would see in books or in the little shops in Mesilla, then every once and a while I would try something a little bit different. I tried a few more carvings further from traditional, and when they were received and praised with interest I finally just let go and started creating them my way. I took my Sculptures much farther in the fantasy side, and thankfully they have been devoured by the locals.
At the push of my wife, Cecilia, I started showing my wood sculptures publicly at local art and craft shows when I was around 19 and only in the last few years have I started showing my flat art. I have played with acrylic painting on canvas, watercolor, pen and ink and color pencil, often mixing them to suit my ideas. I have to admit the color pencils have been the most fun for me. Cecilia gave me a set of Prismacolor pencils for Christmas one year and I fell in love with them. The same rules of critic apply to my flat art though. I have trashed several pieces already but I’m learning. I like the detail I can get with the color pencils. I have even had people come into my booth and argue with me about it not being watercolor, which is great cause if I am creating blends and illusions that well people want to argue over it? I guess it just means I must be doing something right.
I don’t really know where my art will go in the future, I can’t think that far ahead. I have definitely branched out with a bit more confidence. My art is forever evolving in my mind, even while I’m working on it, which is good for my admirers because they are constantly surprised by what new work I produce. An art piece for me is never finished. During the creative process it probably went threw a dozen changes before I decided to stay with one idea. The changes keep me going though. They make me stop and look at the piece making me wonder what I could have done better, so its time to try again.
I started drawing and sketching when I was in elementary school and continued into middle school. Around this time, my dad had purchased a scroll saw and I got my first taste of wood works. I started learning things with him like silhouette cut outs, refrigerator magnets, and toy cars but always had this curiosity about Kachina dolls. I don’t know what it was about them, but I just gravitated towards the stories. To me they were this myth, but at the same time very much existed in the minds and hearts of many. For me that put them up on the whimsical pedestal of dragons, wizards and other mythical beast and beings.
I always wanted a Kachina doll but couldn’t afford one so one night in my dad’s shop I sat there thinking how hard can this be? My dad's interest in woodworking soon changed and so I took over the shop. Needless to say many of my first attempts have disappeared for good reason. Unfortunately, my mom and Nana own a few of my first attempts, complete with neon craft feathers and vinyl seat cover material for sashes, and they refuse to let me remake them.
I have learned many times in my life you always have to start somewhere and work up from there. You must always work your hardest because no matter how good you get, there’s always someone better than you. So I try very hard to outdo myself every time I step into the shop. I can't even begin to tell you how many half finished dolls have been thrown against the shop walls, became firewood, chucked across the yard, even turned into my dogs chew toys. If I’m not happy with it, it's trashed. I am my own worst critic and I have yet to fully please myself.
In my "rebellious" teens I got heavily into street art, all legal I swear. I started experimenting with tattoo flash art, contemporary art, pin-up art and Tribal art but my love for the southwest style kept pulling me back. I wanted to pull it all into my Southwest art somehow. At first I wasn’t sure how it would be received. Many of my carvings were very close to what I would see in books or in the little shops in Mesilla, then every once and a while I would try something a little bit different. I tried a few more carvings further from traditional, and when they were received and praised with interest I finally just let go and started creating them my way. I took my Sculptures much farther in the fantasy side, and thankfully they have been devoured by the locals.
At the push of my wife, Cecilia, I started showing my wood sculptures publicly at local art and craft shows when I was around 19 and only in the last few years have I started showing my flat art. I have played with acrylic painting on canvas, watercolor, pen and ink and color pencil, often mixing them to suit my ideas. I have to admit the color pencils have been the most fun for me. Cecilia gave me a set of Prismacolor pencils for Christmas one year and I fell in love with them. The same rules of critic apply to my flat art though. I have trashed several pieces already but I’m learning. I like the detail I can get with the color pencils. I have even had people come into my booth and argue with me about it not being watercolor, which is great cause if I am creating blends and illusions that well people want to argue over it? I guess it just means I must be doing something right.
I don’t really know where my art will go in the future, I can’t think that far ahead. I have definitely branched out with a bit more confidence. My art is forever evolving in my mind, even while I’m working on it, which is good for my admirers because they are constantly surprised by what new work I produce. An art piece for me is never finished. During the creative process it probably went threw a dozen changes before I decided to stay with one idea. The changes keep me going though. They make me stop and look at the piece making me wonder what I could have done better, so its time to try again.
