Charmian Johnson

Charmian Johnson (1939 – July 20, 2020) was a Canadian artist and potter based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Life and career Charmian Johnson was born in Pouce Coupe, BC in 1939. She attended Delta Central School in Delta, BC then the University of British Columbia to study ceramics from 1967-69. She studied under Glenn Lewis and Mick Henry.

Johnson worked as a high school teacher in Creston, BC, as well as an elementary school teacher in West Vancouver, BC. In 1969, Johnson worked as a visiting professor in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Saskatchewan. Following this, she became a regular guest lecturer at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in the Faculty of Education studio program from 1971-1977. She primarily worked in the medium of ceramics and also worked with ink on paper drawings and painting. Having apprenticed with Glenn Lewis and Mick Henry during her graduate studies at UBC, her work is directly tied to their philosophies and linked to Bernard Leach and Japanese Pottery. Her work was also influenced by Korean and Chinese ceramics, especially the glazing used in the Ming, Ying and Sung dynasties. then returned to Canada and began making a series of stoneware gargoyles. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, she changed focus to the production of pots, large bowls, ikebana vases and small boxes. In an article about Charmian Johnson for the Potters Guild of BC, artist, writer and educator Amy Gogarty remarks, "Characterized by a fierce intelligence and dedication to her craft, Charmian Johnson produced some of the most beautiful ceramic works seen in this region. Her mastery of subtle glazes and clean, graceful forms ensures her place in the Canadian canon of ceramic art, but the true value of her legacy exceeds the material residue of her creative practice."

Johnson died on July 20, 2020. This exhibition showed a variety of eclectic pieces made of clay, glass or enamel placed in unconventional locations. Johnson's worked played with images of the imagination, and included her gargoyles, which popped out of the gallery's dark corners. Johnson then went on to exhibit in 2004 at The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery in Vancouver, BC). "Thrown" showed Johnson's bowls, vases, jars, cups, boxes, plates, saucers, tea pots, and oven dishes in varied colours, shapes and sizes. In total over one hundred of Charmian Johnson's ceramic pieces were featured. Her most recent group exhibition was in 2018. "Nature", held at Catriona Jeffries Gallery in Vancouver, BC, exhibited her ink on paper drawings of botanicals. Her many drawings were on the perimeter of the gallery. They were intricate, in black and white, and ranging in style from scientific illustration to graphic motif.

Curated In 2004, Johnson contributed to the research of the exhibition, "Thrown" held at the Morris and Helen and Belkin Art Gallery and co-curated it with Lee Plested and Scott Watson. This exhibition featured over 600 ceramics (including her own) that were influenced by or during the Leachian pottery movement in England.