Every day is a welcome challenge - story of Kimberly Clarke-Johnson

Nineteen years ago, Franklin High School grad Kimberly Clarke-Johnson never thought that one day she would be using her talent in art to make a living. At that time she could not imagine taking the steps that would lead her to a career with one of most successful doll auction companies in the world.

Every day is a welcome challenge, says Kimberly Clarke-Johnson who uses her graphic arts skills to design catalogs, post cards and other publications for an Ohio-based doll auction company.

A shy 17-year-old with a budding talent in art, she wanted do something with her talent but wasn’t sure what that would be. College certainly didn’t seem an option.

“No one in my family had ever finished high school, let alone college,” she stated. “But then I remembered what my dad always said, ‘It’s your world, do with it what you want.’”

Clarke-Johnson looked around at the possibilities, found the Advertising and Graphic Design program at Southwestern Community College and talked it over with her parents. “With his and my mom’s encouragement, I enrolled at SCC with little idea of what to expect. Then a letter from instructor Bob Clark came and I went for an interview. It went fine. Questions about my high school art classes were asked, as well as what ‘art’ I did outside of school. Dad and Mom had built me a studio about three months before. ‘That’s where I spend most of my time,’ I told them. Apparently that was enough to get me into the AGD program.”

Four weeks later, she was a college student. “Here I stood in college at 17, a place I never thought I would be. Now I was about to take classes in a program I never even imagined existed.”

Clarke-Johnson said she found the support she then needed at SCC. “Mr. Clark was very patient with everyone and I totally enjoyed every class I took. Then a year and a half into the curriculum, I dropped my drawing class, fearing I couldn’t pull it off. Things built up and I felt stressed out. I had only two quarters left to graduate but I dropped out. Then my mom reminded me that she and Dad, who had died just four weeks before I started classes at SCC, had really expected me to finish school and do what I always wanted to do, art. She repeated what my dad had always said, ‘It’s your world, do with it what you want.’ I could not let him, my mom or myself down. I went back and finished those two quarters and graduated in May 1989.”

But that was just the first step. This new college grad then had to find a job.
“I was really lucky,” she said. “The Franklin Press was looking for a part- time ad composer. After an interview, the publisher called and offered the job to me. I couldn’t believe it; I had a job using my education and I got the job just 21 days after graduation! As an ad composer I utilized my educational skills and absorbed even more. I even used my darkroom skills as a fill in when the darkroom tech was unavailable.”

For several years, Clarke-Johnson worked with area newspapers. “I moved to The Highlander, where I learned even more tricks of the trade,” she recalled. “Then later at The Clayton Tribune in Georgia, I realized that layout and design was my interest and I left to begin freelancing.”

One of her freelance jobs was with Watauga Creek in Franklin, creating catalogs. Later when she moved to Ohio, this job proved to be a great benefit to her. “After I’d been in Ohio for a few weeks, I heard that a doll auction company was looking for a full time graphic artist,” she said. “’Dolls?’ I thought. Not just any dolls, antique dolls and Barbie dolls! I had collected over 300 Barbies myself!

“When I applied, McMasters Harris Auction Company hired me on the spot and I began full-time the next day as the catalog composer. I found myself in the middle of a company deemed to become one of the most successful doll auction companies in the world. What a job; I could not believe my luck! After three years and 12 catalogues, I believe I could not work for a better company. The people here have become not only co-workers but more like my family.”

According to Clarke-Johnson, the McMasters Harris catalog is distributed in the United States, Europe and Japan. “It is so fulfilling to create a product I am proud of and know that my work is seen by people in so many different places,” she said. “Everyday is a challenge, whether it’s photographing a Tete Jumeau antique doll, creating a post card for a Barbie auction or composing an ad for a magazine, I get to use my skills in design.”

Recently Clarke-Johnson emailed Bob Clark. “I wanted to thank him,” she said. “He introduced me to something great that is rewarding to me, both creatively and personally. I was able to take the skills I learned at SCC and find my place in the world. My mom is proud and I know my dad, looking down, is proud, too. It’s my world and usually, I get to take Dad’s advice and do with it what I want.”

For more information on SCC’s Advertising and Graphic Design program or other SCC programs, phone 828.586.4091 or 800.447.4091 or visit the college’s web site at www.southwesterncc.edu.

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