Liberty Lake boy’s drawings turned into books

This is a case of right place, right time in all its glory. Johnny Swager, who will be a third-grader this fall at Liberty Lake Elementary, wanted to take art classes so he signed up at the Art Chalet in Liberty Lake where he painted his little heart out.

His mother, Coy Swager, took some of his work and had them printed onto greeting cards which she gave away. “It snowballed from there,” she said.

The greeting cards ended up in California.

“I was doing a book event for one of the artists that we publish,” said Richard Enfantino, executive director of Enfantino Publishing. “Two guests came up and showed me some notecards they had. Before they said anything, I saw that there was childlike innocence to them, but there was more to the artwork. The mechanical side was that of a seasoned artist, such as the shadowing and proportioning.

“When they told me they were done by a 7-year-old child I was amazed. I told them to have the parents contact me if they were interested in doing something with his artwork. I received a call from his parents, and later that week flew to Spokane to meet them. The rest is history.”

Enfantino is an artist and self-proclaimed “art junkie.” In 2005 he began publishing to expose the work of other artists as well as his own. The first book Enfantino published was “Godard: Don’t Drink and Draw: The Art and Life of Michael Godard” with a forward by Ozzy Osbourne. “Godard told me, ‘No two roads converge by accident,’ ” Enfantino said. After Godard’s work, Enfantino has published a dozen more hard-covered books full of artwork and the stories behind the work.

When Enfantino’s road converged with Johnny’s artwork, three books were born: “Johnny Art,” which includes a biography and a gallery of Swager’s paintings, “Johnny Art Summer Fun: Color and Find Book” and “My Saturday Adventure.”

The latter has the main character searching for bugs. “When Johnny painted himself into the book, he made his eyes blue,” said Coy Swager, “I pointed out that his eyes aren’t blue and he said, ‘But mom, it’s a painting, I can have any color eyes I want.’ ”

The bugs in the book are all named after Johnny’s cousins and the watercolor illustrations are big, bold, bright and fearless. “When I was a little kid I didn’t want coloring books, just paper and markers,” Johnny Swager said. “I love markers.”

Coloring books dictate design. Johnny likes to think up his own. “I like to learn new things like using a credit card with the paint and alcohol and other things.” When he grows up, he wants to “be a person that discovers animals in the ocean and study them and paint them.”

Enfantino thinks Johnny has quite a future. “He’s a normal kid but has a talent for art. I’ve already sold many of his originals and prints since January. We’re also starting a clothing line for him,” he said. “His future is wide open. I’m happy to be representing him.”

Johnny’s paintings have gone from hanging on the refrigerator in his Liberty Lake home to selling for more than $1,000. “It’s fantastic,” he said. “I put the money in my college fund.”

Johnny works primarily in watercolor but also uses acrylic paint. His work is impressionistic, insightful and quite lovely. He enjoys painting animals and thinking up stories which will become a series of adventure books.

“The next one will be called ‘My Farm Adventure.’ My papa (grandfather) lives on a farm in Idaho. I feed and ride the horses and swim and fish,” he said.

Johnny is excited about his future and has even been known to wave at passing cars while holding up a brightly painted sign that reads: “Go to johnnyart.com!”