Art photos (
5
): Courtesy of the artist
Ground enamel can be mixed
w ith w ater and sprayed onto
a surface, but Johns prefers to
sprinkle it onto steel in p o w d er
form . V aryin g the thickness o f
enam el and occasionally adding
residue from tanks o f acid she
cam e across in enam el plants
created texture and transform ed
the surface. Y e t it is the unpre-
dictable, alchem ical nature o f
enam el and fire that determ ines
its final colors, creating an ele-
m ent o f serendipity that w o rks
w ell w ith the artist’s o w n intui-
tive approach to design.
A lifelong traveler and
reader w ith an insatiable appe-
tite for ideas, Johns draw s inspi-
ration for her im agery from
architecture, landscape, pre-
Colum bian textiles and arti-
facts, m ythology, and her o w n
experience w ith the animal
w orld. A bear broke into her
C reston e house - tw ice - leav-
ing claw m arks on her kitchen
w all. She w asn ’t hom e either
tim e, fortunately, but from
these near-encounters came
a series o f w o rks featuring
abstract, iconic bear images.
In a journal entry, Johns
w rites o f being draw n dow n her
artistic path b y “ the glow in g
colors, alw ays the unexpected
com binations,” and a “ desire to
capture the essence beneath the
form s .
.. A ll life’s experiences,
journeys, sights, sounds, smells,”
she muses, “ create a continuing
vocabulary o f images w hich I am
com pelled to record.”
+
h-johns.com
Harriet Johns is represented by
Glenn Green Galleries
+
Sculpture
Garden in Santa Fe, N ew Mexico.
A 2009 monograph,
H Johns:
Colors From the Heart,
is avail-
able through westerneyepress.com.
Gussie Fauntleroy is a Colorado-
based writer who contributes regu-
la r ly to national and regional
publications on art
,
architecture
,
and design. She is the author o f
three books on visual artists.
a u g / s c p n
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