Paintings by Cynthia Farrell Johnson

Cynthia Farrell Johnson Cynthia Farrell Johnson is a fan of vibrant colors. Her works in gouache and acrylic have been inspired by the people she met and places where she lived during 25 years of globetrotting as a U.S. diplomat. Service in West Africa, Central and South America exposed her to a wide variety of artistic traditions and forms of expression. Her role models are Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Faith Ringgold and Vincent Van Gogh. Johnson currently makes her home in Silver Spring, Maryland, and draws much of her inspiration for themes and color schemes from the Washington, D.C. region’s rich, cultural diversity.

Johnson is a member of the Rockville Art League, Strathmore, and the Washington chapter of Women’s Caucus for Art, as well as being included in the Maryland State Artists Registry. Her work is also included in the DC Arts & Humanities Art Bank. Since May 2012, Johnson has served on the Advisory Board of the School of Fine & Performing Arts, State University of New York-College at New Paltz.

In July 2013, Johnson was awarded an Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County Individual Artist/Scholar Grant. Johnson was Artist-in-Residence at Wesley Theological Seminary’s Luce Center for the Arts & Religion in 2011. Two years prior to that, she was Artist-in-Residence at Iona Senior Services. Johnson’s paintings have been exhibited overseas in cultural centers and galleries in Africa and in Latin America. As a participant in the Department of State’s Art in Embassies Program, Ms. Johnson has placed her work in U.S. ambassadorial residence in Niger, Nicaragua, Serbia, Ecuador, and Panama. To learn more, visit www.cfjfinearts.com.

The children’s book The Black King, originally written in Catalan by Ponc Pons of Minorca, Spain, was an inspiration for Johnson’s art, which was then used to illustrate Clyde Moneyhun’s English language translation of the book.