By Victoria Pike
“Get your eyes dilated each year…” says U.S. Navy veteran and artist Steve Johnson. He wants this message to be loud and clear to people because for him, it’s what saved his eyesight, and possibly even his life.
A year ago this month, Johnson started having trouble with his eyesight and thought it was likely due to his glaucoma. After seeing an eye specialist, he was given heart wrenching news. Johnson was diagnosed with ocular melanoma. The doctors had found a mass on the back of his right eye.
At the time, there was a lot of confusion about what would have to happen moving forward, but learning to accept that “you have to work with what you’ve been given” is the best thing Johnson’s ever done for himself.
He says his mind was filled with horror after the diagnosis, given the situation, but especially at the thought of not being able to paint again, because for him, painting is his outlet. His way to cope with stress and all of the things that life throws your way when you least expect it, and this was one of those situations.
Only three months after the diagnosis, Johnson headed to Harrah’s Hope Lodge in Memphis, TN where he and his wife, Sonia, would stay following surgery. Not only did Johnson have to undergo surgery to remove the mass, he also had to have a radioactive disc inserted into his eye to treat the cancer, in a process known as brachytherapy.
After wearing a lead eye patch to protect everyone else from the radiation, Johnson went through surgery again to have the disc removed. Upon returning home after surgery, Johnson described his eye as looking like “raw meat” for the weeks to follow. The tumor is shrinking and his eye finally healed superficially but he is left with severe vision loss in that eye.
Going through this journey with cancer has taught the artist a lot in life and in the art world. Johnson continued to paint after his surgery saying “It’s probably going to be different but I’m just going to do it.”
Of course, it is different for him now only being able to see from one eye, but he has the basics figured out. Johnson is progressively working on getting better at his detail work because since the surgery, his depth perception is totally different.
Since being diagnosed with cancer and not knowing how things would turn out for him, Steve has taken a different perspective on life. He explained that before the diagnosis he was looking into buying himself a “sweet convertible BMW,” but after his surgery he ended up with a Nissan pickup truck instead, because it’s more “practical,” as his wife called it.
Despite the ongoing battles, and having to relearn how to paint, Johnson has stayed optimistic through it all and says he wishes he could paint the way a Jimmy Buffet song makes him feel.
Not one to let a disability slow him down, Johnson brings an inspiring attitude to each day and repeats his reminder – “Get your eyes dilated each year.”
Johnson’s work can be seen at Whittington Gallery, at 307 Whittington Avenue, in Hot Springs. He enjoys doing ceramics, pottery, watercolors, and oils, but acrylics are his preferred medium. He can usually be found mingling among other artists and art lovers as galleries stay open late to participate in Gallery Walk. Look for him there, find him on Facebook, or contact him at stevenjohnson401@yahoo.com.
