I was born into a family of seven in a small town on the windy plains of the Texas panhandle.

"At The Watertank" by Bob Johnson

My father, Bob Johnson, introduced me into the world of art. He was a painter and sculptor and all of the family members posed for portraits in clay or in oil paint, usually on a Sunday after church. In the summers, my parents stuffed the seven of us into the station wagon and for two weeks we toured America’s landscape, museums and galleries.

When I was 17, my father encouraged me to take a pastel class in our home town and I discovered a direction for my life. So, after I graduated from high school, I attended the Santa Barbara Art Institute in California. The following summer, my father and I went to a workshop at the Sergei Bongart School of Art in Idaho. Sergei gave me a scholarship at his winter location in Santa Monica, California. It was my great fortune to have known this masterful Russian painter. Bongart was an inspiration and introduced me to the work of Kathe Kollwitz, Andrew Wyeth and Nicoli Fechin. From Bongart, I furthered my education at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Yet, after all my years of academic study, I believe my father and Bongart were my greatest influences.

"Pig" by Bob Johnson

In 1978, I moved to Taos, New Mexico, where my father, brother and I opened The Variant Gallery and after seven years I moved to Santa Fe where I continue to live and work.

You can contact me at: 505-577-4675, or marnie.johnson06@comcast.net or contact John Cacciatore at the Dartmouth Street Gallery in Albuquerque, NM. 1-800-474-7751    www.DSG-ART.com

Marnie Johnson

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