Meet Jeanette Johnston | Artist & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeanette Johnston and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeanette, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Starting my own business was more of a spontaneous decision. As as a full time artist, I’ve had the opportunity to widen my artistic perspective by exploring different art forms. I am grateful to have discovered the mesmerizing art form of water marbling as I experimented with new techniques to elevate my work. Being a self taught artist, I developed my own recipe that worked well for me, but through the learning process I’ve gained more than I ever imagined. The meditative and therapeutic qualities motivated me to share this process with others by offering workshops. The journey of creating my own water marbling business, Dallas Silk Art, made me realize the importance of inspiring others to be more creative in their lives. Seeing the amount of joy it brought to my life and others made all the hard work worth it.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Dallas Silk Art is an interactive and creative business located at Grandscape TX, the new development in The Colony, where kids and adults alike can experience the mesmerizing art form of water marbling. You can choose to create your own one-of-a-kind silk scarf, handkerchief, set of cork coasters, canvas hats, shoes, and much more at any of our upcoming workshops. We also offer mobile services so we can bring the fun to you!

We are the only business in the DFW metroplex that solely focuses on offering water marbling workshops– meaning you can marble your hearts away any day of the week!

Starting my own water marbling business was definitely not an easy path. I built this business from the ground up and completely from scratch. I figured out myself how to build water marbling trays and tools as well as figured out my own water marbling recipe through lots of trial and error. I launched Dallas Silk Art as a mobile business in February of 2019, one year prior to the lockdown being put in place. The initial fear and paranoia from the lockdown took over at first, but as a full time artist, entrepreneur, and mother to a 5 year old, I had to learn to quickly adapt to this new norm. The last thing I expected during this time was to expand my water marbling business beyond mobile and into a brick and mortar location. I grew Dallas Silk Art from only having one employee, to now being a strong team of 7 all women run business. I am in constant awe at where this path has taken me. It’s a reminder that you can transform, grow and reinvent yourself, no matter what adversity is thrown your way.

It wasn’t until I realized the importance of loving and embracing who I truly am did I have the courage to take the path unknown and completely trust my intuition. I am a creative. I can’t picture myself not being able to create, design, and make my visions come to life– or just simply not being able to work with my hands. Before I started Dallas Silk Art, I’ve been a full time local Dallas artist developing my own unique style with my main medium being wood and resin. I have a series of three large pieces displayed at a restaurant called Sugarbacon located in downtown Mckinney. I was recently commisioned to create a new series of work for their new location located at Watters Creek in Allen. I also have a mural in Deep Ellum located on Main St. and Exposition Ave. titled Doyenne, emphasizing women strength.

I am able to share my passion for art through Dallas Silk Art. The best part is that everyone who attends our workshop walks away feeling like an artist. Even my accountant husband who claims that he doesn’t have a creative bone in his body was able to create gorgeous scarves that he gifted to his grandmother. We will guide each person through the entire design process from beginning to end so no need to have any prior experience or any level of art expertise. If you’re looking for a unique and creative idea for a birthday, bachelorette party, date night, girls night out, or even for team building, etc., contact me and lets get to marbling!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friends were to visit me for an entire week, I’d definitely want to show them the places that I not only enjoy, but the places that are near and dear to me which includes: Grandscape in The Colony, Sugarbacon in downtown Mckinney, the Dallas Museum of Art, and of course we’d have to visit my mural, Doyenne, located in Deep Ellum.

Grandscape is hands down the first location that I would rave about, not only because it’s where my store, Dallas Silk Art, is located, but because it is also one of the hottest new attractions here in North Dallas. With movies, indoor go-Karting, shopping, dining, live concerts and so much more, it’s a one stop destination where we can spend an entire day and never run out of things to do– and of course we’d have to make a few matching marbled accessories while we’re at it!

On another day out, we’d have to make our way to the charming downtown Mckinney to stroll around and do some shopping. There’s a lot of amazing local boutiques that sell hand made and locally sourced products, my favorite being Jasper & Petals. We’d end the day with a delicious dinner at Sugarbacon. Not only do they have good food, great atmosphere, and a friendly staff, but the restaurant was recently renovated and now displays three of my large wood and resin pieces in the main dining space.

We’d also have to make a day trip to the Dallas Museum of Art. As an artist and an art-repreneur, this destination might seem obvious but having the opportunity to get personally invited by the DMA to give a live demonstration just 6 months after launching my water marbling business made me not only realize that all the hard work was worth it, but that I am on the right path.

Last but not least, we’d have to go visit my mural in Deep Ellum, located on Main St. and Exposition Ave. titled Doyenne, emphasizing women strength. She has been standing strong for three years and the Deep Ellum Foundation has recently highlighted her as one of the top 10 classic Deep Ellum murals.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to give a shout out to all the small businesses that helped me tremendously throughout my journey by opening their doors and allowing me to set up my marbling trays in their space when I first started as a mobile business. These businesses include: Jasper & Petals in downtown Mckinney, Sweet Home Bath and Body in downtown Plano, and the Deep Ellum Art Co. in Dallas.

Website: www.dallassilkart.com

Instagram: @dallassilkart

Facebook: facebook.com/dallassilkart

Other: Email: Dallassilkart@gmail.com

Image Credits
Thomas Garza Photography