Jim Johnson

I am first and foremost a Christ follower, and everything else about me falls from there. I am a 1977 graduate of Greenville (IL) College with a BA in Art and worked as a graphic artist and art director for several firms for 34 years. In 1997 I was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, and in 2011, transitioned to long-term disability. My art training focused on acrylic paintings on masonite, but because of my disabilities, I can no longer hold a conventional paintbrush, much less squeeze paint out of a tube. However, I can still type and manuever a brush-replacing mouse. Adobe Photoshop is my new medium. I work from photographs and use Photoshop brushes, color palettes, filters, and a variety of drawing tools to produce the work you see at www.digitalhomesandbarns.com. ALS patients are typically given no more that five years to live once they've been diagnosed. When that number doubled in 2007, I decided I would begin painting again for as long as God gave me the strength and dexterity to do so. My digital paintings are, of course, not paintings at all in the literal sense, yet I create them exactly as I did when I used conventional tools and media; only those have changed. I began with aging barns as my subject matter, attempting to portray decay but also beauty. I added relatives' homes beginning in 2010 with the same intent: to illustrate structures that have been around for years but that have unique form, color, and character all their own. In a very real sense, these pieces are becoming metaphors of my life in that they mirror whatever ability I still possess, suggest natural aging, and permit an innate beauty to shine through the weathered boards, mildewed stones, and peeling paint.

Website: http://www.digitalhomesandbarns.com
Facebook: Facebook profile

• When You Can't Go Back - A Career Guide to a New Start on March 17, 2014
  
  Kevin Michael Ross addresses a subject that perhaps many may consider obscure but that, in reality, is becoming increasingly relevant in today's rapidly-changing workforce. When You Can't Go Back features real-life scenarios and offers valuable tips on how to evaluate your own job history, consider whether a move is in order, and then move forward with a plan. Though geared for the person who is in transition career-wise, it cannot help but be beneficial to college graduates as well. My favorite quote is from actor, Sylvester Stallone, who once asked himself, "What would I do for free?" and then, "Can I make a living doing that?" Those two questions could very well summarize Mr. Ross's "big idea," namely that foundational to any job search is knowing yourself well enough to streamline going after jobs that suit you best. Even if you are not transitioning between workplaces, When You Can't Go Back will introduce you—maybe for the first time—to yourself!