inches square. G lenn G reen,
o w n er o f G lenn G reen Galleries
+ Sculpture Garden in Santa Fe,
N e w M exico , says he w as struck
b y Johns’ innovative use o f fired
enam el from his first glim pse o f
her w o rk . “ I had n ever seen it
elevated to this artistic level,”
he says.
M aking art on a large scale
began early for Johns, w h o grew
up in the N orth D akota prairie
to w n o f V a lley C ity , population
5,200. T h e daughter o f classi-
cally trained musicians, and a
violinist herself in her younger
years, Johns w as the beneficiary
o f a strong school system in a
to w n that w as hom e to a teach-
er’s college. H er second-grade
teacher recognized her talent
and provided her w ith an easel
and large canvases. Johns w as 10
w h en she painted a io-foot-long
mural on a library wall.
A fter high school, Johns stud-
ied art in the Los Angeles area,
then m oved to northern Califor-
nia. Living in San Francisco in
the 1960s and ’70s and w orking as
a contem porary art gallery direc-
tor, she w as im m ersed in the
vibrant W e s t Coast art scene.
She also spent m any years as a
designer and builder for residen-
tial rem odeling projects for San
Francisco-based architects.
“ I’m 50 percent architect.
G uess I’m gonna have to decide
w h at I w an t to be w h en I g ro w
up,” the artist jokes, sitting in
the com fortable hom e she cre-
ated from a railroad boxcar,
w hich she had m oved to Crest-
one. W ith a solar addition on the
south side for light and w arm th,
the co zy , w ell-organized space
reflects Johns’ passion for color:
T h e kitchen w alls are bright
blue, and the w o o d floor o f the
guestroom is painted a deep
orange-red.
C olor, in fact, is the elem ent
that d rew Johns to enam el. In
1970 she w as visiting an artist
friend in O regon w h o made
small-scale enam el w o rk and
fired it in a potter’s kiln. A fte r
learning the process, Johns
“d ove into it, and everything
else disappeared. It’s such a
w onderful m edium ; it’s just
m agical,” she declares. “ It’s
very concrete art.”
Above:
Communication
Series (red)
enamel on steel panel
3
X
3
h.
Below: Johns with
a 7-foot-wide enamel
work outside her boxcar
home in Colorado.
Above:
Communication
Series (blue)
enamel steel panel
3
x 3 ft.
Right, opposite:
These three panels
(5x6 in. each) arc
from a series called
The Bears. Johns was
inspired to make them
after a couple o f bear
break-ins at her home.
