Laurie Richardson Johnson

Artist Statement — Biography — Story of Blue River Studio

Artist Statement

For me, mark-making on paper, either with ink, charcoal, pencils, paint, or type, is about listening. To listen is to be open, attentive, curious, expectant, ready. Listening means not proceeding with a prescribed agenda, but rather taking cues from the work itself, from the marks made, from the lines, spaces, forms, and words unfolding in and on the surface. Mark-making helps me to see: to slow down, to touch, to notice the changes in landscape externally and internally. Sometimes these changes are minuscule; other times dramatic; I am surprised, awed, intrigued. Every time I learn something. Embedded in the discipline and practice of making marks is a freedom and a pull—for both, I am truly grateful.

Biography

Growing up, I lived in numerous landscapes before settling near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers—near Bdote, in the language of the Dakota people who cared for the land for thousands of years, and still do. I was born near the shores of the Pacific Ocean, moved as a child to the Rocky Mountains, then to the woods of Rice Creek in Minnesota. For a heated shock, my growing-up family migrated to the southwestern desert of Arizona. I found my way back to Minnesota, where I have lived with my composer-husband and family (our children now grown) for many years.

I attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where my love of drawing, painting, words, and music were nurtured and challenged. I relished the study of history, religions, language, spirituality, and the sciences—a liberal arts education that has served me well. Additional study came through programs at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Luther Seminary, with drawing mentor Gabriele Ellertson, and writing mentor, Jane Resh Thomas.

Numerous “jobs” punctuate my resume, but I regard working as an eclectic artist, teacher, and learner to be my calling and service, along with the role of family nurturer and collaborator. The journey through this life is an unsurpassed adventure of surprises, incredible joys, catastrophes, daily learning and growing, mountains of challenges, extraordinary relationships—some enduring, others fleeting, all important—as well as the great joy and privilege of being alive to taste and greet each new day.