OCR Text |
Show Art Center Exhibitor to Chronicle Celebrity Classic I; 3ii Sllpllllfl Sillily Park City - the town and the slopes, by Cecile Johnson. If you are skiing by the Celebrity events, look for the blonde lady with the paints. She's making one of her memorable canvases. You have seen her work on camera if you've ever seen the Olympics. She was the official artist in Lake Placid and has done previous winter Olympics. This month, however, she is showing her ski and town works of Park City in her exhibit at the Kimball Art Center. Cecile Johnson is probably one of the best known ski and ski area artists in America today. She has painted every major ski area and most every prominent ski race and exhibition in the states, and, of course, world-wide if it has to do with the Olympics. While here, she is also painting the Celebrity Classic, Clas-sic, which starts Thursday. A warm, outgoing lady, whom you can hardly ever find off the slopes, Johnson is spending her time here doing what she loves best, skiing and painting. She has gratiously taken her time with the press, however. We talked about her beginnings in this mostly-male mostly-male area of art. Johnson was happily teaching in her home area, upstate New York in 1967, when one of her colleagues pointed out she really ought to be painting ski scenes since she did snow so well. Agreeing she thought it was a good idea, she went to ' ' Ski Magazine" and was promptly prompt-ly assigned to do all the ski areas within 100 miles of New York. Having done the assignment, assign-ment, she returned to the magazine and found - there was not a soul there whom she had lalked to when they gave her the assignment. Further questioning indicated indi-cated the entire staff of Ski had moved to their competition, competi-tion, "Skiing Magazine". So, that's where she went. But, before she did, "Ski" had offered to buy all of her paintings. At "Skiing", she found someone she knew, and they not only wanted everything she had done, but gave her continuing assignments. So, she went with them. She says she doesn't think "Ski" ever did know what happened happen-ed to her. Her next assignment was a "Memorable Mountain" Series. She painted every major ski area in the United States and one in Canada. Park City was her first, and has been her favorite since then. (When Deer Valley first opened, she was invited back to paint the entire area.) Her introduction to the United States Ski Team was through an assignment to paint all the skiers who were on the road to Lake Placid. This was followed by appointment ap-pointment as the official artist at Lake Placid. She did all the official lithographs and the prints for the Hilton Hotel chain and American Express. During the Olympics, she was one of a team of five who entertained the really big VIPs, along with such other VIPs as Jean Claude Kiley. (He, incidentally, ended up buying some of her paintings.) paint-ings.) She has painted Park City extensively. She says she has really tried to capture the essence of the town as well as the ski slopes. (To which she has had great access, going up on the cats and painting from locations where other artists would have to only remember.) She says her most interesting interest-ing experience on the slopes happened in Squaw Valley. She was painting on one of the upper reaches when she was circled by a large, beautiful dog. She said she understood then the feeling of those who have painted animals in outdoor settings. As the dog went away, one of the cat operators happened happen-ed by, and asked her whether she had seen the wolf! She allowed as how she had! ...ii -q.: r .n- . . , M i i i i I . r ; I ' t it f! iS Cecile Johnson stands by the original of the painting that has been made into a poster of the Deer Valley run IReb Runl which overlooks Park City. |