Johnson, Charmian
Item
Maker Name
Johnson, Charmian
Marks
Biography
"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. Charmian Johnson was keenly attuned to qualities of craft, form and vision that come together to create beautiful functional objects. She recognized and noted these qualities in work made by others, enhancing our appreciation of the ceramic arts."
Amy Gogarty, PGBC newsletter Charmian Johnson obituary, August 2020
BC born, Charmian Johnson attended UBC, achieving her degree in Education, 1964 -67, studying with Glenn Lewis who had just returned from his apprenticeship with Bernard Leach. (1961-63)
By the mid-1960s Charmian became involved with the Potters Guild of BC. She was editor of the Western Potter from 1967- 69, and later as member at large. During those years, Glenn Lewis (Vice-President 1965 ) and Gathie Falk were also PGBC Board members and contributed to the Western Potter. (Charmian and Gathie gave a joint throwing demo reported, Western Potter, #6. 1966.) Charmian was one of Hiro Urakami's favourite artists and her work was often featured at the House of Ceramics (1972-78).
After graduating from UBC in 1967, Charmian taught Mathematics and English in Creston, BC, and Art in West Vancouver. In 1969 she was a visiting professor in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Saskatchewan.
Upon return to BC, in 1970, Charmian bought Mick Henry's house in East Vancouver where she lived until her death in 2020. She established her studio and re-built a famed gas kiln. Both Amy Gogarty and Norah Vaillant have written about this historic gas kiln, perhaps the first of its kind in Vancouver, that seems to have been built, fired, dismantled, moved, and rebuilt by a variety of potters - Richard Gomez, Glenn Lewis, Mick Henry and finally Charmian. It underwent its last restoration in 1976 and was known as Bertha, “my most excellent and eccentric kiln.”
From 1971- 77 Charmian taught the studio program at the UBC Faculty of Education. (simultaneously Gathie Falk was teaching sculptural ceramics and pottery at the UBC Fine Arts Department, 1970-76.)
In 1977 Charmian stopped teaching. She wanted to focus on a life dedicated to ceramics. She continued to travel intrepidly - living and working with potters in Britain, Turkey, France, Malaysia and in Tangiers, Morocco where she lived from 1978 to 1981, studying with a Berber master potter.
Below is a classic example of how records of dates around particular events can conflict.
According to the records of Mick Henry, Glen Lewis and Martin Peters, and as reported in Alex Lambley's 2019 dissertation, Charmian traveled to the Leach Pottery early in 1975, later joined by Mick Henry, to assist Leach, whose eyesight was failing, in photographing and cataloguing his Asian pottery collection. They crossed over with John Reeve and Martin Peters leaving the Leach early in 1975 to return to BC.
However, according to her own CV, Charmian was working with Leach in 1978. Her CV records that in 1974 she visited Gwynn Hansen at La Bourne, France, and viewed the ceramic collection at the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul, and the Baur Collection in Geneva, and that in 1978 she worked with Leach and visited Lucy (sic—should be Lucie) Rie and viewed her ceramic collection and visited Michael Cardew and viewed his collection. The dates may differ, but the events remain consistent. Charmian is the sixth BC potter to have worked and studied with Bernard Leach since 1958.
Upon her return to Canada around 1981, Charmian began a series of conceptualized stoneware gargoyles that were exhibited in 1987 at the Terra Cotta Gallery. She also started working on a series of exquisite flower drawings ( first experimented with during a recovery from illness in Tangiers) These floral studies have been exhibited at the Vancouver Art Gallery, at Catriona Jeffrey's Gallery, and one is held in the National Gallery's collection.
In the early 2000s Charmian, along with Scott Watson and Lee Plested, became involved in the curation of a major exhibition, "Thrown, Influences and Intentions of West Coast Potters" that opened in 2004, and was held at the UBC Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery. An exhibition of over 600 pieces made by Leach apprentices or by those influenced by the Leach diaspora.
The tremendous success of the exhibition led to Charmian being deeply involved in the complex research and editorial process around publishing, 'Thrown, British Columbia's Bernard Leach Apprentices and Their Influences', in 2008, along with Scott Watson and Naomi Sawada. 'Thrown' has become a truly significant document. When twinned with Alex Lambley's detailed dissertation it becomes apparent that influences from those potters and their philosophies are still affecting contemporary practices in BC
In 2007, Charmian met and befriended Amy Gogarty, who required her permission to publish photographs of her work from the Thrown exhibition. The friendship led to several articles and reviews of exhibitions, as well as many discussions about BC ceramics.
In 2014 Charmian maintained a correspondence with Debra Sloan while Debra was resident at the Leach Pottery, responding to, and researching two of Bernard Leach's 1926 equestrian roof finials. Charmian wrote ......"expression of this same life energy to him being absolutely essential in pottery making. ........to me it is no surprise that Bernard Leach made a Ridge Tile Finial for a house, embedding in it's Horse and Rider form a vital and humane message expressed so minimally and so clearly for all passers-by to see."
Charmian's connection to the Leach/Mingei aesthetic and philosophy had deepened after the experience of listening to a nearly blind Bernard Leach, as he described his experiential way of 'seeing' with memory and touch. Her own pottery forms became more attuned to the elegant modernist shapes thrown by Lucie Rie, and to Korean and Chinese ceramics, especially the glazing used in the Ming, Ying and Sung dynasties. Her throwing has been described as taut and contemplative, her finishing impeccable, her glaze process painstaking, and the results have been described as visually sensuous and silken to the touch. Her pots were intended to be held, and enjoyed in everyday use, encouraging us to notice the moment.
Some mystic has been conferred onto Charmian's distinctive character and life-story, her works are coveted, and her practice has been the subject of a number of articles.
Amy Gogarty remained in frequent contact with Charmian and has written several articles about Charmian's practice. She noted that Charmian did some firings around 2016 and in 2018 was preparing to glaze for a group exhibition at Catriona's Gallery.
Charmian had been in ill health for some time, and died in 2020, leaving an immaculate studio filled with unfinished pots and many saddened friends.
In 2022 friends of Charmian’s organized a sale from her last firings and pieces from Charmian's own private collection. They also included unfinished wares by Charmian that were glazed and fired posthumously. Admiration and the mystic around Charmian and her work is such that there was a lineup around the block entailing a 2-4 hour wait. Everything was gone by the end of the afternoon, even those works not finished by her own hand. Monies were raised for charitable causes dear to Charmian.
Amy Gogarty’s tribute;
https://www.galleryofbcceramics.com/post/charmian-johnson-1939-2020
Amy Gogarty, PGBC newsletter Charmian Johnson obituary, August 2020
BC born, Charmian Johnson attended UBC, achieving her degree in Education, 1964 -67, studying with Glenn Lewis who had just returned from his apprenticeship with Bernard Leach. (1961-63)
By the mid-1960s Charmian became involved with the Potters Guild of BC. She was editor of the Western Potter from 1967- 69, and later as member at large. During those years, Glenn Lewis (Vice-President 1965 ) and Gathie Falk were also PGBC Board members and contributed to the Western Potter. (Charmian and Gathie gave a joint throwing demo reported, Western Potter, #6. 1966.) Charmian was one of Hiro Urakami's favourite artists and her work was often featured at the House of Ceramics (1972-78).
After graduating from UBC in 1967, Charmian taught Mathematics and English in Creston, BC, and Art in West Vancouver. In 1969 she was a visiting professor in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Saskatchewan.
Upon return to BC, in 1970, Charmian bought Mick Henry's house in East Vancouver where she lived until her death in 2020. She established her studio and re-built a famed gas kiln. Both Amy Gogarty and Norah Vaillant have written about this historic gas kiln, perhaps the first of its kind in Vancouver, that seems to have been built, fired, dismantled, moved, and rebuilt by a variety of potters - Richard Gomez, Glenn Lewis, Mick Henry and finally Charmian. It underwent its last restoration in 1976 and was known as Bertha, “my most excellent and eccentric kiln.”
From 1971- 77 Charmian taught the studio program at the UBC Faculty of Education. (simultaneously Gathie Falk was teaching sculptural ceramics and pottery at the UBC Fine Arts Department, 1970-76.)
In 1977 Charmian stopped teaching. She wanted to focus on a life dedicated to ceramics. She continued to travel intrepidly - living and working with potters in Britain, Turkey, France, Malaysia and in Tangiers, Morocco where she lived from 1978 to 1981, studying with a Berber master potter.
Below is a classic example of how records of dates around particular events can conflict.
According to the records of Mick Henry, Glen Lewis and Martin Peters, and as reported in Alex Lambley's 2019 dissertation, Charmian traveled to the Leach Pottery early in 1975, later joined by Mick Henry, to assist Leach, whose eyesight was failing, in photographing and cataloguing his Asian pottery collection. They crossed over with John Reeve and Martin Peters leaving the Leach early in 1975 to return to BC.
However, according to her own CV, Charmian was working with Leach in 1978. Her CV records that in 1974 she visited Gwynn Hansen at La Bourne, France, and viewed the ceramic collection at the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul, and the Baur Collection in Geneva, and that in 1978 she worked with Leach and visited Lucy (sic—should be Lucie) Rie and viewed her ceramic collection and visited Michael Cardew and viewed his collection. The dates may differ, but the events remain consistent. Charmian is the sixth BC potter to have worked and studied with Bernard Leach since 1958.
Upon her return to Canada around 1981, Charmian began a series of conceptualized stoneware gargoyles that were exhibited in 1987 at the Terra Cotta Gallery. She also started working on a series of exquisite flower drawings ( first experimented with during a recovery from illness in Tangiers) These floral studies have been exhibited at the Vancouver Art Gallery, at Catriona Jeffrey's Gallery, and one is held in the National Gallery's collection.
In the early 2000s Charmian, along with Scott Watson and Lee Plested, became involved in the curation of a major exhibition, "Thrown, Influences and Intentions of West Coast Potters" that opened in 2004, and was held at the UBC Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery. An exhibition of over 600 pieces made by Leach apprentices or by those influenced by the Leach diaspora.
The tremendous success of the exhibition led to Charmian being deeply involved in the complex research and editorial process around publishing, 'Thrown, British Columbia's Bernard Leach Apprentices and Their Influences', in 2008, along with Scott Watson and Naomi Sawada. 'Thrown' has become a truly significant document. When twinned with Alex Lambley's detailed dissertation it becomes apparent that influences from those potters and their philosophies are still affecting contemporary practices in BC
In 2007, Charmian met and befriended Amy Gogarty, who required her permission to publish photographs of her work from the Thrown exhibition. The friendship led to several articles and reviews of exhibitions, as well as many discussions about BC ceramics.
In 2014 Charmian maintained a correspondence with Debra Sloan while Debra was resident at the Leach Pottery, responding to, and researching two of Bernard Leach's 1926 equestrian roof finials. Charmian wrote ......"expression of this same life energy to him being absolutely essential in pottery making. ........to me it is no surprise that Bernard Leach made a Ridge Tile Finial for a house, embedding in it's Horse and Rider form a vital and humane message expressed so minimally and so clearly for all passers-by to see."
Charmian's connection to the Leach/Mingei aesthetic and philosophy had deepened after the experience of listening to a nearly blind Bernard Leach, as he described his experiential way of 'seeing' with memory and touch. Her own pottery forms became more attuned to the elegant modernist shapes thrown by Lucie Rie, and to Korean and Chinese ceramics, especially the glazing used in the Ming, Ying and Sung dynasties. Her throwing has been described as taut and contemplative, her finishing impeccable, her glaze process painstaking, and the results have been described as visually sensuous and silken to the touch. Her pots were intended to be held, and enjoyed in everyday use, encouraging us to notice the moment.
Some mystic has been conferred onto Charmian's distinctive character and life-story, her works are coveted, and her practice has been the subject of a number of articles.
Amy Gogarty remained in frequent contact with Charmian and has written several articles about Charmian's practice. She noted that Charmian did some firings around 2016 and in 2018 was preparing to glaze for a group exhibition at Catriona's Gallery.
Charmian had been in ill health for some time, and died in 2020, leaving an immaculate studio filled with unfinished pots and many saddened friends.
In 2022 friends of Charmian’s organized a sale from her last firings and pieces from Charmian's own private collection. They also included unfinished wares by Charmian that were glazed and fired posthumously. Admiration and the mystic around Charmian and her work is such that there was a lineup around the block entailing a 2-4 hour wait. Everything was gone by the end of the afternoon, even those works not finished by her own hand. Monies were raised for charitable causes dear to Charmian.
Amy Gogarty’s tribute;
https://www.galleryofbcceramics.com/post/charmian-johnson-1939-2020
First name
Charmian
Last name
Johnson
Career dates (start and end)
1979
Date of Birth
1939
Date of Death
2020
Place of Birth
Pouce Coupe, BC
Place of Death
Studio location
Formal Education
Major Exhibitions
Over the past 40 years, Charimain's pottery and works on paper have been included in numerous group exhibitions across Canada, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Anthropology UBC, the Burnaby Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, and the Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa.
2020/2021 Modern in the Making Post-War Craft and Design in BC, , VAG, Daina Augaitis, Allan Collier, Stephanie Rebick
2021 Solo Charmian Johnson, Catriona Jeffries Gallery
2021 We Do Not Work Alone, group, Jesse Birch, Nanaimo Art Gallery
2018. "Nature", held at Catriona Jeffries Gallery in Vancouver, BC, Ink on paper
2011 The Doris Shadbolt Collection, group, Gallery of BC Ceramics.
2004 'Thrown, Influences and Intentions of West Coast Potters' Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery UBC, Scott Watson and Lee Plested and Charmian Johnson
2002. Solo "Temoku: Iron Rich Glazes in Canadian Use" was exhibited at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario
1989 Solo, "Flora: Drawings by Charmian Johnson" Vancouver Art Gallery
1987 Solo, "The Gargoyle Factory Does Not Often Appear" Terra Cotta Gallery in Vancouver
1985 Solo, "An Exhibition of Bowls" was shown at The UBC Fine Arts Gallery in Vancouver, Glenn Allison
Collections
National Gallery of Canada
Museum of Anthropology, UBC
Affiliated organizations
Links to Further Resources
Modern in the Making Post-War Craft and Design in BC, exhibition catalogue, VAG 2020
https://catrionajeffries.com/exhibitions/charmian-johnson-may-29-july-3-2021
“Charmian Johnson” (Review of exhibition), Galleries West, June 14, 2021, online., Amy Gogarty
2020 https://www.galleryofbcceramics.com/post/charmian-johnson-1939-2020, Amy Gogarty
2011 “The Doris Shadbolt Collection,” Ceramics Art and Perception 85 , p. 71. Amy Gogarty,
2008 'Thrown, British Columbia's Bernard Leach Apprentices and Their Influences, Scott Watson, Naomi Sawada.
2008 'Thrown' Essay , Glenn Allison, "With Regard to Charmian Johnson and Her Bowls".
2008 ' Thrown', Norah Vaillant
Essay - High-Fire Culture in British Columbia, a Chronology circa 1950-1970. Page 54
Essay - High-Fire Culture in British Columbia, a Chronology circa 1950-1970. Page 54
2001 Jim Weaver, “Charmian Johnson,” Ceramics Monthly (April, 2001), p. 63
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Doris+Shadbolt+pottery+collection.-a0345619233
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charmian_Johnson
Source
Amy Gogarty
Allan Collier
Debra Sloan