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Elizabeth Johnson grew up in rural New Hampshire, where she spent many childhood hours
outdoors picking and eating the berries she loves to make in glass. In those days
nature-inspired television was a rare treat, and Elizabeth has strong memories of being
allowed to stay up late to watch Jacques Cousteau and National Geographic Specials.
Those images of exotic fish, plants and insects made a powerful impression that still
inspires her current work.
As a teenager and young adult Elizabeth studied pencil drawing and oil painting in the
photo-realistic style. It was her husband, Dean, who encouraged her to work with glass
as an art medium. He provided lessons, tools and materials for every birthday and gift
occasion, beginning with stained glass. When he noticed how much she loved flameworked
glass objects, he brought her to see the Blaschka Glass Flowers at Harvard. Then he
arranged for her to travel to Murano, where she saw the realistic glass insects made
by internationally renowned flameworker Vittorio Costantini.
On her return Dean helped Elizabeth to locate her first flameworking class, during which
she made two glass irises. Thrilled with the qualities of the material and the potential
to make extremely life-like sculptures, she set up a flameworking studio at home, where
she honed her skills as her children grew up. Today Elizabeth and Dean live and work in
Colorado, where the mountains and the change of seasons continue to provide inspiration.
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“I am fascinated by anything miniature. Great beauty, complexity and drama are present
in the petals of flowers and the lives of insects. But my enjoyment of these tiny worlds has
always been accompanied by frustration. Flowers fade, insects fly away, and fresh berries
often become moldy before I have a chance to eat them. Although I can visit the underwater
world of coral reefs on film or in snorkel gear, those visits are brief at best. There is
never enough time to see all of the amazing details that are apparent to the tiny creatures
who live there. My work in glass is an attempt to capture parts of these miniature worlds,
and to freeze them in time so that they can be held in the hands, observed closely and enjoyed
over and over again..”
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