Hi all...I'm Kate Johnson, known professionally as Cathy. I like Kate better, and that's what I am to my friends!

I've been an artist all my life, if my baby books are any indication--semi-recognizable scribbles at age 2--and I've been at it ever since. I've kept journals since the '70s, and began to illustrate them sometime in the '80s, thanks in part to Hannah Hinchman's wonderful A Life in Hand; Creating an Illuminated Journal. Hannah's since become a good friend in truth as well as in inspiration, and I count myself fortunate!

I've written and illustrated 33 books--some natural history, some history, but most art-related--and I've been a contributing editor for The Artist's Magazine and Watercolor Magic--or Watercolor Artist, as it's called now. I'm delighted to be able to make my living doing what I love. I teach online, and make data CDs for artists that are available on my CafePress store at http://www.cafepress.com/cathy_johnson/ --that's a new adventure in response to some of my students' urging! Sharing my personal journal images felt weird, but since I love other peoples' journals I thought I'd give it a try.

I found Danny's books to be wonderfully inspiring, and I've given them as gifts more than once! The Everyday Matters list is marvelous...I've made some good friends here and gained a lot.

My personal webpage is http://cathyjohnson.info and I share more work, explorations, experiments and tutorials on Flickr, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/25146557@N00/