Susan Shiels Johnson
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