Chris Johnson is a Northern California artist who has worked in the medium of blown glass for over twenty years. Working with traditional Italian off-hand glass blowing techniques, Chris’s goal is to bring forward the beautiful relationship between light and color that is unique to glass, drawing his inspiration from the natural world. “I am fortunate to live in a place of incredible beauty, between the Coastal Redwoods and the Monterey Bay. I’m continually inspired by the dynamic and ever-changing beauty of this region - the deep colors of the forest and the sea, the way the light changes with the fog, the sculpting action of the wind against the trees.” Chris began his artistic journey as a digital illustration student, but he was soon drawn to the physical art forms of metal smithing and sculpture. When he visited a glassblowing studio for the first time he was “immediately captivated by the possibilities of glass – especially the endless range of possibilities for color and the way glass interacts with light.” He apprenticed in the Berkeley studio of J.Fine Glass, where he began to develop his own unique style, inspired by his mentor, Arturo Ramos, Italian masters such as Lino Tagliapietra, and by the pioneering work of London-based Peter Layton. Chris opened his first glassblowing studio in Santa Cruz, California in 2005, in a small industrial garage that he shared with an auto-repair business. His studio today is in the historic village of Davenport, California, in the building formerly occupied by the renowned Lundberg Glass Studio.