Artist Terri Johanson shares her love affair with glass
Originally written by Michelle McConnaha and published in the Ravalli Republic on Mar 7, 2021
Kiln-glass artist Terri Johanson works in her studio in Corvallis. She will be featured at Montana Bliss Art Gallery in Hamilton in April.
Artist Terri Johanson lived in Oregon and worked for years in professional education, workforce program administration and policy work when her journey of being a kiln-glass artist began.
She always did handwork and in Salem, Oregon, she went to the Art in the Park and enjoyed the works of glass she saw.
“It wasn’t blown glass, but I didn’t know what the process was,” Johanson said. “One day I mentioned it to my staff and one of the gals said it was kiln-formed glass and that the home for it in the United States is in Portland. That got me started.”
At that time there were two factories in Portland making the type of glass she used.
“The composition has to be very carefully managed, so it is compatible,” Johanson said.
She took classes by top experts and then her husband purchased the equipment for her.
“It’s not an inexpensive adventure, equipment-wise,” Johanson said.
She retired in 2003 and applied to study glass at a special school under outstanding educators.
“My professional work was about policy and that sort of thing and so it was clear to me that I needed something that had a product,” Johanson said. “I needed to create something, and glass just fit that bill perfectly. Being in the rich environment of instruction was nurturing, I got to try lots of techniques and sell enough to feed my habit.”
Reactions 2 is a bowl made of kiln glass.
Johanson and her husband moved back to Montana where their children lived. She had graduated from the University of Montana when it was still Montana State University.
“Coming back to Montana was coming home,” she said.
For a couple of years, she had a temporary studio in her son-in-law’s house but only created what was needed to complete their house in Corvallis. She was juried into Artists Along the Bitterroot but was not especially active. With her house and studio complete, she has been participating in the open studio tour and will open her studio for both studio tours planned for 2021.
Montana Bliss Gallery will be hosting a solo show of Johanson’s work in April.
“Right now, I’m working hard and have the pedal to the metal to prepare for that show,” Johanson said. “Montana Bliss has lots of wall space, so I am working on things that hang. Often my work is functional like bowls, trays, sculptures and architectural like sinks. But I have been challenged to make works that hang on the wall.”
She has created wildflowers of bear grass and is working on designing lupine and Indian paintbrush.
“I have a penchant for quaking aspen and there is a small piece now in the gallery but I’m working on a bigger piece of aspen that will hang on the wall,” Johanson said. “My kind of glass is handmade, and when they pour it out it, it oozes onto a metal table and has an edge that is interesting. Some people cut it off, but I save those pieces and use those natural edge pieces and have something in mind.”
She keeps the natural edges on some of her pieces.
Quakies on Stainless show glass artist Teri Johanson’s penchant for quaking aspen. She’s working on a second piece for her April show at Montana Bliss Art Gallery in Hamilton.
Her studio is well equipped with all things glass making, two kilns one 48 inches and the other 24 inches square, a flat lap with diamond-encrusted wheels (to smooth the glass) and a lathe.
“The glass that I do is sometimes called ‘flow glass,’” Johanson said. “You fire it in the kiln slowly, so it doesn’t have thermal tension that creates cracks. I was surprised when I got into glass that I had to learn a lot of math and science stuff. There’s no end to learning.”
She said glass is becoming a popular medium in the art world so there are many new products, including enamels, stencils, silkscreens and new techniques.
“This whole pandemic thing has been amazing,” Johanson said. “Glass artists all over the world are sharing their techniques via video classes and I’ve been able to take all kinds of classes even from England. Learning through the pandemic has been amazing.”
Red Line 2 is more typical of the work by artist Terri Johanson, functional yet beautifully creative.
Johanson is putting together a class for the end of her show in April at Montana Bliss Artworks Gallery.
“I’m going to be teaching pocket vases,” she said. “People can cut glass; design some pieces and we can fire them up. Learning glass is fun, I love going to school classrooms because kids are amazing. Teaching is fun.”
In her artist statement, Johanson said her work in her glass studio, “is filled with the reflection of light through luminescent sheets of glass.”
“I am alternately calmed and excited as the kiln forming processes of cutting, grinding, firing, and polishing of the glass produces vessels or sculptural works of art…that I enjoy and that others find joy in also,” she said. “My love affair with glass and my skills and expertise in working with it, have naturally aligned with my experience and love of teaching.”
Fish are a popular subject in the Bitterroot Valley and this intriguing piece is Trout Trio, kiln-glass made by artist Terri Johanson.
For more information about her work and her educational opportunities visit TerriJohansonArtGlass.com.