Today we’d like to introduce you to Laila Johnston.
Hi Laila, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are of me sitting at the table with my sisters, cousins, friends, and even my grandfather just coloring. All of my childhood was art. As I got older, I only fell more in love with creating. Through art classes, and watching my sisters draw I knew that art was what I wanted to do. The first time I ever sold my art was at an event called “Lift Her Up”, back in 2022, caused by a series of very convenient coincidences. The only reason I was even considered to be a vendor was because one day as I was drawing my mom glanced at my iPad over my shoulder. She said to me “This is really good Laila, you should sell prints of this!” and that led me down the interesting path of where I am today. To this day I still participate in Lift Her Up as a vendor, and that one single event that I did back when I was only 12 years old, opened so many doors. That summer I was selected to be the graphic designer for the Juneteenth KC pageant and I collaborated with my sisters to make a painting for the Black Girls Rock Event. The following year I started speaking publicly and even had the opportunity to illustrate a children’s book. In 2024 I was selected as one of the featured artists for the 18th and Vine Arts Festival and following this, in 2025 I was chosen as one of 250 artists to design and paint one of the KC Hearts. I did all of this while simultaneously being a high school honor student, Black Student Union President, athlete, and so much more.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My journey to becoming an artist has been anything but smooth. When I first began selling my art I wanted to focus on black womanhood, something that a lot of people discouraged me against. I was told that my art all looked the same and that I was targeting too small a market. At this point in time, I was only 13 and I quickly lost confidence. I went into something similar to a depression and didn’t make any form of art for months, which looking back, only made this depression worse. It took a lot of courage for me to start creating again, but when I did I was able to pour my emotions out into my paintings. A couple years later, I had decided that art was the career that I wanted to pursue. My teachers and even on occasion my parents highly discouraged me from this path. I understood that they only wanted the best for me, and feared what may happen if art didn’t work out, but it still hurt. I argued with many educators, who weren’t able to understand why someone with my skill level in other fields (engineering, science, robotics, athletics, etc.) would want to throw it all away for painting. Another big struggle I faced was with self identity. I was “raised” by the internet, especially during COVID, which had a big effect on how I perceived myself and who I believed I was. For a long period of time I forced myself to fit into a mold made by social media influencers. This didn’t only affect my outward appearance, but it could also be seen in my art. I was scared of doing something different, and even more scared of being caught doing it. Around 2022 I began actually learning how to properly express myself in my style (even though I didn’t dress the best at the time) and especially in my hair. I don’t regret forcing myself into that mold, if I wouldn’t have done it, I likely would have never learned to be the person I am today. My hair represents so much of who I am, which can especially be seen in my artwork. Blackness is my biggest inspiration, especially as someone who grew up in the suburbs.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My primary discipline as of late is acrylic painting, however, I am constantly experimenting with new media and have previously focused in watercolor, mixed media, collage, digital art, and even sculpture at times. Most people know me for my extensive use of color and focus on black women in my art. My only subject in every single piece I make is black women, although recently I have thought about exploring the focus of black culture. I have two accomplishments that I am most proud of; more recently, my participation in the Missouri Fine Arts Academy, and also my Martin Luther King KC Heart. What I believe sets me apart from other artists, is my use of color and my subject matter. I rarely find myself using any neutral tones in my art. I paint skin pink and blue and yellow but hardly ever the brown we would see in real life. This is not to say that brown is not beautiful, but rather to explore what actually makes us black on a deeper level than just our skin color. The fact that all of my artwork also revolves around femininity and black womanhood also sets me apart. It’s very rare that you see an artist that only draws one gender, and even more rare to see that they only draw one race on top of that. One of the many ways that I connect with my black roots while living in a place where they have been systematically oppressed and erased is through my art and the exploration of other artists.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was a wild child that wanted to learn everything I could. Everything was interesting to me, I loved bugs, legos, robots, painting, sports, if you could think of it I probably loved it. If you asked me my favorite color I would say it was rainbow. I was loud, spontaneous, and above all else creative. For most of my childhood I participated in a multitude of sports (basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, etc), because it was the only place where I could output all the energy I had. I also loved playing games, my two favorites were Operation and more than anything else the Candyland boardgame. During COVID a lot of this energy left me and I became a shy, introverted, pre-teen that was extremely bad at holding conversation. This only lasted for about 2 years though, because as soon as I was able to go back to school again, I began thriving and turned into the spunky, outspoken, loud 17 year old I am today!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Personal IG: https://www.instagram.com/lai_monet_/
Art Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lailasdigitalportfolio
