By: Arianna Magana
It’s a cloudy and rainy Sunday afternoon in Eugene, Oregon but that doesn’t stop Oregonians from attending the 2017 Mt. Pisgah Mushroom Festival to learn everything about the mushrooms species. To the right of the mushroom displays, Cada Johnson is setting up her booth in the local arts section at the festival. Her booth is filled on both walls and the ceiling with colorful, hand crafted 2-D prints on wood, patches, and wall hangings with fabric prints. As I watch the independent artist finish getting her booth ready, familiar and new customers gather into and around the booth to greet her and learn more about her newest inspiration.
Cada Johnson grew up in eastern Buffalo, NY where she began drawing and painting at a young age. During her up-bringing she was also exposed to the exhibit design business. Cada’s father has owned a business in the industry for most of her life where she eventually completed one of her internships at for college. After a great experience at the University of Cincinnati School of Design, Cada moved to Seattle, WA to be a graphic designer where soon she realized that she had much dissatisfaction in her work at her job due to working with clients that sold products not in line with her personal ethics. In the year 1990 Cada decided to pursue being solely an independent artist.
After leaving Seattle, Cada moved to Portland, OR where she worked in open air markets and sold clothing where every piece of her clothing had different hand-painted artwork. Upon traveling to her first fine craft shows, Cada met a woman in 1990 who would soon become a great seller of her artwork and a lifetime friend. Lynn was drawn to Cada’s work the moment she laid eyes on it and offered to help her sell it. “Art is a big part of Cada’s life, she is very focused on her craft and she cares a lot about getting to know her customers. I can sell her work for days on end because I believe in it.” During this time, Cada also traveled to San Francisco and Seattle for festivals to sell her artwork to numerous loyal customers.
Today Cada’s artwork is worn by thousands along the West Coast. Johnson is currently 53 years old and moved to Cottage Grove, OR 23 years ago. She has since then been an independent artist and continues her journey by focusing more on working from home creating art for clothing, prayer flags, and 2-D prints on wood to sell on her website, cada@cadajohnson.com, and at local festivals in Oregon. “My artwork is interwoven with my personal life, there’s really not a boundary between the two.”