Enthusiastic, by Lonni Sue Johnson, 2009
Copyright 2011 by Lonni Sue Johnson.
In her ongoing gradual recovery,
Lonni Sue has been creating illustrated word puzzles.
A prominent artist, Lonni Sue Johnson, was suddenly struck with profound amnesia (memory loss). Her recovery art gives a rare glimpse into the mind.
Lonni Sue was a professional illustrator for 31 years. Her art was published by The New York Times and appeared on covers of The New Yorker magazine. She also did illustrations for The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, the medical field, major corporations and the government. She illustrated many books. Her art has been recognized by the White House and the United Nations and is in the Smithsonian collection.
Suddenly, just before the 2008 New Year, Lonni Sue’s pen nearly stopped. She had been struck with a severe case of encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, and nearly died. She had to relearn how to walk, talk, and eat. Margaret Kennard Johnson, mother and fellow artist, has been helping Lonni Sue regain her art.
What is extraordinary about Lonni Sue’s case of amnesia is that, in the very area of her loss, her visual skills begin to fill in. In order to grasp the present moment, before it vanishes from memory, she urgently writes and draws. Thoughts, which would otherwise be constantly slipping away, are held on the page, where she can build ideas. In the process, she has been leaving a detailed record of her thought, for us to see. We can see creative ideas unfolding and watch shifts in her mental ability.
Please visit again soon, for updates. Copyright text © 2011 by Aline Marie Johnson
Professional Illustrations, Before Illness
Illustration by Lonni Sue Johnson, Copyright © 2007 by Lonni Sue Johnson
The New York Times, August 6, 2007, column “Link by Link”, article,
“Politically Neutral, in a Blurry Sense,” by Noam Cohen
Illustration by Lonni Sue Johnson, Copyright © 2007 by Lonni Sue Johnson
The New York Times, August 20, 2007, column “Link by Link”, article,
“Defending Wikipedia’s Impolite Side,” by Noam Cohen
Illustration by Lonni Sue Johnson, Copyright © 2007 by Lonni Sue Johnson
The New York Times, April 2, 2007, column “Link by Link”, article,
“M.I.T. Education in China, Minus the Degree,” by Noam Cohen
Professional Biography, Before Illness
Lonni Sue Johnson, Illustrator
My Work
I write, paint and draw in watercolor, oil, pastel and pen and ink. My hope is to touch people with my art on as many levels as possible. I want to make them laugh and feel good, and take delight in daily life; but also to challenge their intellect as I express my deepest values. I believe that a successful piece of art has a trio of ingredients: a good idea, the medium chosen to best express it, and the tools of composition used to express it clearly.
Education
B. F. A. School of Architecture and Design, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan in Printmaking and Drawing.
Additional study of humorous illustration at The School of Visual Arts in NYC with Chas. B. Slackman and R.O. Blechman.
I am a third generation artist. My grandmother was a portrait painter, and college instructor. My mother, my mentor, is a printmaker who studied with Joseph Albers at Black Mountain College. She taught for twenty-three years at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. My father was a scientist and inventor for RCA and Corning Glass.
Work I have written and illustrated
Planet News, Kodansha, Japan 1995
Taking Off, a short illustrated story for Vintage Airplane April 2003
Learning To Fly, an unpublished book in progress.
Books illustrated
The Stress-Free Traveler, Sandy Paton, McGraw-Hill. July 2005
You’re The Best, Barbara Milo Ohrbach, Clarkson Potter, 2003
Fifty-Seven Reasons Not To Have A Nuclear War, Marty Asher, Warner Books, 1994
Eat These Words, Harper-Collins, 1991
Parables of Kierkegaard, Princeton University Press, 1978
A Snake Is Totally Tail, Judi Barrett, Atheneum, 1983
Pickles Have Pimples and Other Silly Statements, Judi Barrett, Atheneum, 1986
Fat Cats, Cousin Scraggs and the Monster Mice, Barbara Shook Hazen, Atheneum, 1985
The Yuppie Handbook, Piesman and Hartley, Simon & Schuster, 1984
Save Our Planet, MacEachern, Dell, 1990
Be Nice To Marilyn, Ida Lutrell, Atheneum, 1992
The Story of Z, Jeanne Modesitt, Picture Book Studios, 1990 also in a Scholastic Books anthology
Mother Earth’s Counting Book, Andrew Clements, Picture Book Studios, 1992
Max and Diana and the Snowy Day, Harriet Zieffert, Harper & Row, 1987
Max and Diana and the Shopping Trip, Harriet Zieffert, Harper & Row, 1987
Max and Diana and the Birthday Present, Harriet Zieffert, Harper & Row, 1987
Max and Diana and the Beach Day, Harriet Zieffert, Harper & Row, 1987
Enjoying Jazz, Henry Martin, Schirmer Books, a Division of Macmillan, Inc., 1986
Sentence Combining and Paragraph Building, William Armstrong, Random House, 1981
Der entfuhrte Prinz und das Gartnermadchen, ?, ?, 1994 (in Japanese)
Additional books illustrated (just cover art) – 30 books
Additional books illustrated (one of multiple illustrators) – 4 books
The New Yorker
• The New Yorker Magazine – Six magazine covers and also interior illustrations.
• Christmas at The New Yorker, Stories, Poems, Humor, and Art, from the Editors of The New Yorker, Random House, 2003 – Book Cover
• The Complete Book of Covers from The New Yorker, 1925-1989, Alfred A. Knopf, 1989 – Six magazine covers shown inside book.
Drawings have also been published by
The Museum of Modern Art, New York City, Christmas cards
Adobe Systems, Eyewire, Getty Images
Scholastic
The Wall Street Journal
The New York Times
The Baltimore Sun
The Chicago Tribune
The Boston Globe
The Washington Post
Coca-Cola
Business Week
MacDonald’s, Annual Report
Audubon Magazine
Lotus Development Corp., packaging, editorial, animation
Brown Publishing Network, Boston
IBM
Compaq
Squibb
Baxter Healthcare
Memorial Hermann Healthcare System
National Geographic
Citicorp
Providian Bancorp
Knoll International
Simon and Schuster
Random House
John Wiley and Sons
Southwestern Bell
Oil-Dri, Annual Report
Orion Capital, Annual Report
Corning Glass, Annual Report
Roher Pharmaceuticals
Postgraduate Medicine Magazine
Emergency Medicine Magazine
Peat Marwick
Digital
Herman Miller/Meridian, Advertising, and brochures
Harper Collins
Bantam Doubleday Dell
The Hillier Group
US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
Time Magazine
Business Week
Time-Life Books, London
Red. Eltern, Germany
Fortune Magazine
Gourmet Magazine
Parents Magazine
Workman Publishing
Royal and Sun Alliance, REMi, brochures
Clarkson and Potter
Walker Books
Scott Foresman
Takashimaya, Japan, Department Store Brochure, and more.
Interactive and internet/web illustrations
Bellcore TIAA-Kref animated brochure
Knowledge Adventure
Orion Capital, illustrations for web site annual report and brochures
IntraNetics for web site
Merck-Medco for web site
Hello.com and Idealab! company for card web site
Cards
The Museum of Modern Art, New York City
Designfold, Inc.
Marcel Shurman
Hello.com and Idealab! company
Watercolor Farm Flying Note Cards
Work has been recognized by
The White House, one of an exhibit of commissioned posters to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Women’s Bureau, 1995
The Society of Illustrators
The United Nations, Graphis, Switzerland
American Illustration
The Society of Publication Design
Creation, Japan
Communication Arts
Print Magazine
Princeton University, Milberg Gallery 1991, All In Line – Three families of artists: George Grosz, Karen Grosz, Rube Goldberg, Thomas George, Margaret Johnson, Lonni Sue Johnson 1991
Airventure Museum Sport Aviation Art Exhibit EAA Museum Oshkosh WI, 2001-4
Honorable Mention 2001, 2002, Excellence 2003
Flying Magazine Summer 2001, Summer 2005
Private Pilot Magazine April 2002
Sport Aviation Magazine April 2002
Vintage Airplane Magazine July 2002
Work is in the collections of
New Jersey State Museum
Princeton University Graphic Arts Collection
Newark Museum
The Smithsonian
Rockefeller University
American Embassy, Tokyo
Johnson & Johnson
Janos Starker
Betty Parsons
Teaching
Hartwick College guest speaker October 2004
Parsons, NYC, guest speaker
The School of Visual Arts, NYC, guest speaker
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, guest speaker
Syracuse University Masters of Illustration, Visit to my studio in NYC
Princeton Art Association, Drawing and design class for children
The Stuart School, Princeton, NJ, preschool to 8th grade, 1974-1976
Recent Exhibitions
The United Nations Prevailing Human Spirit Sept 2002 sponsored by the Society of Illustrators, NYC
Juror of Exhibitions
Juror Central New York Watercolor Society Annual Exhibition September 2003
Juror, Society of Illustrators annual show in NYC twice, latest in 2000
Juror, Washington Art Directors Show
Inspirations come from
Music
Fly Creek Philharmonic 2001-2004, viola and chorus
Princeton University Orchestra 1967-8, viola
Theater Orchestra University of Michigan 1970-72, viola
Aviation
Private pilot, single engine land airplane, since 1996
Tail wheel sign-off 1997
President, 2002, Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter #1070
Secretary 2003, Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter #1070
Established Watercolor Airport 43NY, 1999
The Olde Rhinebeck Aerodrome, Rhinebeck, NY Volunteer 1996-7, including a flight From LaGrangeville NY to Lakeland, Florida with another woman pilot in my Cessna 150 to help run the booth at the Sun’n Fun Fly In
Oversaw (and ordered parts) for the restoration of a 1968 Cessna 150 and a 1946 Piper J-3 Cub
My Aviation artwork has been featured by Flying Magazine at Sun’nFun and Oshkosh Fly- Ins 2003, 2004, 2005
Garden and Farm
Re-establishing a hay and dairy farm to be organic with Certification from NOFA, Northeastern Farmers Association, for organic hay, grain and vegetables; and organically-grown cattle
Travel
England, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Japan, and locally with my airplane
I work from a milk house studio in a rescued barn on a hay farm in upstate New York; with seven cats, a herd of cows and one horse, pigs and an organic vegetable garden, flowers, a small pond with fish, and a landing strip for a small yellow airplane, a 1946 Piper Cub. I have been a freelance illustrator since 1976.
Lonni Sue in her airplane, a Piper Cub, with her
mother in the backseat prior to her illness.
Lonni Sue Johnson 