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‘Spirit Bear,’ based on a reference photo by Don McVee and used with permission. Spirit Bear, Kermode bear, is a rare subspecies of the American black bear found in the temperate rain forest North of Seattle in British Columbia, Canada. Most Kermode bears are black, but there are between 100 and 500 fully white individuals. They are not albinos.

Barbara Johnson finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up-a watercolorist chasing paper, light, life and color. Fascinated by the beauty and magic of watercolorists like Jim Kosvanec, Georgia O'Keeffe, Angus McEwan, and Thomas Moran, she began to study the art. After many decades of engineering management in support of our country, which she loved as well, she hung up the calculators, parked the cranes and pipes, and picked up a brush full-time. The quest for light and color began in Honolulu, Hawaii back in the 1990s. On her off hours she sold her paintings on the fence in Kapiolani Park, studied under Daniel Wang, Hawaii’s state watercolor artist, and competed in juried shows. Life intervened in a big way and the...