Vase by J. Howard Johnson

Information found online:
A Portsmouth, VA resident for over forty years.
He has been exhibiting his ceramic vessels in the Hampton Roads area and beyond since the early 1960s.
His work has been recognized with honors in exhibits in Virginia and NY and sough by collectors.
He took a class in ceramics at Hampton Institute.
Johnson first pursued painting with aspirations of becoming a commercial artist. He was inspired with the versatility and sculptural qualities of clay after taking a class in ceramics with Joseph Gilliard at Hampton Institute. Throughout his career, Johnson has avoided trends, instead celebrating the integrity of individual forms with fine craftsmanship and the proficiency required to realize them. He has built large textural forms that combined hand-building with wheel thrown techniques. His surfaces have ranged from rich textures and earthy tones of the clay itself to Raku, automobile paint and layered wax resist designs reminiscent of his earlier paintings