Susan Shiels Johnson

A lifelong resident of Dallas, Texas, I have  BFA and MFA degrees from Southern Methodist University, concentrating in painting, printmaking and drawing. After graduation I continued to teach those disciplines for many years in Southern Methodist University’s Continuing Education department, as well as in the Fine Arts department as adjunct faculty.

Married for 35 years, I have had some wonderful detours offered by volunteer opportunities presented through the interests of our three children. Among those were years of theater design and production, robotics competitions and literary festivals.  For many years I balanced art alongside versatile work in my family’s business – a small surgical hospital.
I have always been interested in color and form studies, as well as pattern, previously working in the representational realm of still life and landscapes painted “on site”.  Recently, I have extended this inquiry to ceramics, at first focusing exclusively on functional work .  My work in clay has been guided by exceptional faculty at Brookhaven College in Dallas and Anderson Ranch in Colorado.  While I continue to make cups and a few other objects for the table top,  I am also making forms for purely visual exploration,  with a departure point informed by natural objects such a seashells and other organic forms.  Firing some of the components in atmospheric kilns seems to be particularly conducive to realizing the surface and random patterns that I am chasing.

EDUCATION

1978 B.F.A. Southern Methodist University, Dallas

1981 M.F.A. Southern Methodist University, Dallas

2006-present Brookhaven College, Dallas

2007-present Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1979-1981 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Southern Methodist University

1981 Instructor of Design, Richland College

1982-1985 Instructor of Design and Drawing, Adjunct faculty, S.M.U. Department of Art

1983-1995 Instructor of Painting and Drawing, S.M.U. School of Continuing Studies

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

1978 YOUNG AMERICAN PRINTMAKERS, Clifford Gallery, Dallas

1979 DALLAS ART 79, Dallas City Hall

22nd ANNUAL DELTA ART EXHIBITION, Arkansas Art Center,

12th ANNUAL PRINTS, DRAWINGS, and CRAFTS EXHIBITION, Arkansas Art Center

1980 23rd ANNUAL CHAUTAUQUA NATIONAL EXHIBITION, Chautauqua, New York

ANYTHING 2D, University of Wisconsin

THE FIGURATIVE TRADITION IN PAINTING, North Lake College, Dallas

CHRISTMAS SHOW of Gallery Artists, Clifford Gallery, Dallas

1981 M.F.A. QUALIFYING EXHIBITION, Southern Methodist University, Dallas

24th ANNUAL DELTA ART EXHIBITION, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock

FACULTY EXHIBITION, Richland College, Dallas

1983 26th ANNUAL DELTA ART EXHIBITION, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock

1984 FIVE, DW Gallery, Dallas

1985 FACULTY EXHIBITION, Southern Methodist University, Dallas

NINETEEN DALLAS ARTISTS, The Adolphus Hotel, Dallas

1986 TEXAS ANNUAL, Honorable Mention, Laguna Gloria Museum, Austin

1987 NINE, DW Gallery, Dallas

1988 SMU SALON, The Crescent Gallery, Dallas

ELEVEN, DW Gallery, Dallas

THE LAST SHOW, DW Gallery, Dallas

1989 REALISM: DIFFERING VIEWS, North Lake College, Dallas

STILL LIFE, LANDSCAPE, & ARCHITECTURE, Marie Park, Dallas

CONNOISSEURSHIP AND THE INTAGLIO PRINT, Valley House Gallery, Dallas

1990 NEW WORK NEW WORK, Hickory Street Annex, Dallas

TWENTY YEARS OF PRINTMAKING, Southern Methodist University, Dallas

1992 SUSAN JOHNSON, Cedar Valley College, Dallas

NEW WORK II, Hickory Street Annex, Dallas

THREE FROM DALLAS, Marie Park, Dallas

1993 SIX, Hickory Street Annex, Dallas

TVAA 18th ANNUAL NATIONAL OPEN EXHIBITION, Trammell Crow Center, Dallas

1994 DIFFERENT PARALLELS, Marie Park, Dallas

1995 DARE at the MAC, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas

1997 7 Artists, 3 Days, Conduit Gallery

1998 7 ARTISTS, 4 DAYS, Conduit Gallery

2000 DEPARTURETURN, Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University

2003 BEAUX ARTS BALL, DMA’s 100TH ANNIVERSARY auction

2006 CITYCAL Art Exhibition, Artizen Gallery

ART HEIST for Easl, Southside on Lamar

2008 4 ARTISTS, Andelon Gallery, Dallas

ART HEIST for Easl, Southside on Lamar

2009 Juried Show, Brookhaven College, Dallas

President’s Purchase Award, Juror’s honorable mention

2010 Juried Show, Brookhaven College, Dallas:

President’s Purchase Award

Five Women, Texas A&M, Laredo

Brazos River Landscapes, Three Dallas Artists, Andelon Gallery, Dallas

2011 Juried Show, Brookhaven College, Dallas

University of Dallas Regional Ceramics, juried by Cynthia Bringle

Voices Invitational 2011, Dallas

2012 Objects of Desire, Kirk Hopper Fine Art, Dallas

Juried Show, Brookhaven College, Dallas

President’s Purchase Award

Voices Invitational 2012, Dallas

2013 Juried Show, Brookhaven College, Dallas

Voices Invitational 2013, Dallas

2014 Juried Show, Brookhaven College, Dallas

A Transfer of Spirit, students of Roger Winter, Kirk Hopper, Dallas

Voices Invitational 2014, Dallas

2015 Regional Ceramics Competition, University of Dallas, juried by Eva Kwong, Award of Distinction

Juried Show, Brookhaven College, Dallas

Voices Invitational 2015, Dallas

2016 Juried Show, Brookhaven College, Dallas

Intimacy of Scale, Carbondale Clay Center, CO, juried by Chris Gustin, Best in Show, Small Scale Artist