Florilegium (Panel 2) Drawing

Tessa Johnson grew up in Highlands Ranch, Colorado and is now living in Chicago, Illinois. Upon moving to Chicago, Tessa realized the want to be surrounded by plant life - living in the city makes that near to impossible so Tessa has found herself creating her own type of botanical reality. Tessa's work has evolved from painting portraits in oil to working on large-scale, time intensive works in charcoal and conte crayon. “Since I was little I’ve always had an affinity for flowers and plant life. My mom always had them in our house and I would often help her garden outside in the spring and summer time. I think most humans have an inherent attraction to plant life and that is because it is something we have to have in order to live. There is something about creating artwork that has the ability to take one vein of life and divert it into a completely new path that I find utterly impressive, intriguing and beautiful."