Today we’d like to introduce you to Corey Johnston.
Corey, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I have a Masters degree in Theatre with an emphasis in Costume Design. I moved to San Diego to work at the Old Globe Theatre in 1994, and stayed! I now teach at the University of San Diego, where I’ve designed over 70 shows for the undergrad and grad programs. I also had a wearable art business called Relished Artistry where I created individual pieces of dramatically artistic clothing and sold them online and at art fairs.
Part of my job is to do costume renderings. I dabbled in different media to create them over the years, but in January of 2017 I got an iPad Pro and started a deep dive into digital painting. We use an iPad app, Procreate, in our Fundamentals of Theatrical Design class at USD, so I was motivated to learn. I didn’t realize I’d get sucked in so deeply… I took art as my collateral field when I was an undergrad, and I really enjoyed watercolor and figure construction back then, but somehow digital painting has flicked a switch inside me that makes me feel like I’ve been missing something all along that I never knew was absent.
Illustration has turned into a serious passion. I’ve taken online self-guided classes, joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and gone out of my way to find excuses to draw things–even drawing actors in rehearsals! I’ve been working on a project where I’m collecting selfies of hands that my family and friends send me. I draw them and then send the finished image and a video recording of the painting process (complete with music!) back to them as a thank-you for helping me on my drawing journey. I’m hoping to assemble 100 of them into a book of some kind.
Lately, though, I’ve been exploring children’s illustration, and I think I’ve found another home that speaks to my heart. I’m beyond elated about the journey and what’s coming up for me to discover! I’m learning so much. And it just feels right.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Having years and years of theatre-making experience, I have developed a keen understanding of what I think all art is about and what it should do. I’m pretty opinionated about it.
Arthur Miller, the great American playwright, was once interviewed about Harold Clurman who was a director and co-founder of the Group Theatre in the 1930s. Miller’s description of Clurman’s beliefs of the role of theatre in society strikes me to the core, and I believe it is equally applicable to all artwork regardless of whether it’s performative or not:
“He really thought, Harold did, that through dramatic art… you civilized humanity. That they would stop killing one another. That the theatre was a field of jurisprudence. It was more important than the courts. It was certainly as important as any church–informing man.” –Arthur Miller, “Harold Clurman, A Life in the Theatre,” PBS American Masters
I believe great art teaches us about ourselves. And the act of responding to it–loving it or even hating it–helps us learn more about who we are. We see an interpretation of our world through art, and every little bit of beauty or anger or awe or caricature or entertainment or despair helps us understand a little more about what it means to be a human. Even if it means we don’t really understand at all.
That’s why I’m so passionate about all this. Art is the antidote to apathy. It is the antidote to pessimism. And it is the myriad expression of all we are and can be. It’s vital. Especially today. I may be a naive little nobody playing around with my iPad in some anonymous corner of the country, but I am crystal clear about why I’m doing it and how important art is. And that’s very empowering and motivating. It’s a very powerful fire deep inside that I couldn’t extinguish if I wanted to. I’m lucky enough to be in a teaching position where I can help others discover that, too.
Okay, I’m off my soapbox now. Wind me up, and the teacher side of me just goes off!! Haha!!
What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
Interestingly, my main field of theatre is a collaborative art form. I am working with others all the time. I can’t do what I do as a Costume Designer without Actors, a Director, other Designers, technicians, crew, etc., etc., etc. Theatre requires a team of artists doing what they each do best and constantly interacting, all in service to an audience.
I use my art as a singular, personal expression that I can’t get in my theatrical profession. As much as I love working with others, I love making my own stuff, too. It may seem selfish, but many of the people I work with find themselves doing artwork on their own that they don’t have to work with others to express. They are free to share themselves and what they think in a way that simply isn’t possible in the theatre because that profession isn’t about being an auteur practitioner. I find a special centered quietness comes from working on pieces all alone that I simply can’t get from working with others.
I’m not sure I’m in a position to be able to offer much advice for those who feel lonely or disconnected. I’m blessed with the gift of working with people I respect and love and admire all the time. Ironically, I’m actually exploring art to be alone and disconnect from the sometimes overly busy and frenetic world of theatrical collaboration.
But let me say this: No artist is completely alone. They are contributing to something bigger than themselves even if they don’t immediately see it or feel it. It sounds patronizing and hollow, I know. But I have years of experience feeling that frustration, working by myself in my costume shop, alone late into the night on whatever show needed to be done. And what got me through it was the knowledge that what I was doing was important in a lot of little ways that have a ripple effect I will never know. And having faith that doing what was in my heart could never really be a bad thing made the nights shorter.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I have a website at https://www.coreyartusimagery.com/, where I post my latest pieces I’ve finished. I haven’t shown anything in a gallery, nor been published. I’m just beginning, honestly. There’s no where to go but up!
My theatrical portfolio is at https://www.coreyjohnstondesigns.com/, where you can find examples of my costuming work and my wearable art.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.coreyartusimagery.com/
- Email: coreyartus@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coreyartus/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coreyartusimagery/
- Other: https://www.coreyjohnstondesigns.com/
Image Credit:
Images courtesy of the artist.
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