Elevating Visual Expression
A husk of hares bounds, soars and touches down in a garden in DeLand, FL. Others in local gardens practice yoga, dance and do acrobatics.
About the artist
Lance Johnson is a self-taught artist who grew up in a family of craftsmen, but for many years he pursued a career in journalism, first as a writer, then an editor and later in design. His grandfather emigrated from Denmark at the age of 12 and soon began a three-year apprenticeship in the painting trade, and his sons followed. But then the trade had aspects of art. They did gold leafing, hand-mixed the color and consistency of their paints and stains, and refinished the antiques in the large homes where they worked. Lance sculpted in wood in his twenties and pursued sculpture after retirement, thanks to a gracious and trusting art enthusiast who wanted a likeness of her horse near her pool. She took a leap of faith and commissioned him to do a life-size replica of the horse’s head, and so it began.
Lance works in a mix of mediums, from hand-layered artisan concrete to wood to epoxy clay — whatever fits the project at hand — creating both large and small pieces. He specializes in hares — they’re related to rabbits but are larger and with a little bit of an attitude. They might practice yoga, or run through a landscape, or dance in your garden — pretty much whatever you’d like them to do. Attitude is brought to the surface, for hares are rascals.
He also creates tables as functional art; one of his creations incorporates as legs the bronze stanchions from a sunken ship. Another showcases an ancient stone window from India.
And he can memorialize your dog with a wall sculpture.
All work is scheduled based on commissions as they come in. All work is up to the artist’s interpretation, as well as your overall expectations.
He lives in DeLand, FL with his wife, Clara, and with Tizzy and Tilly, two adopted greyhounds.
Original Works
The finished horse, 'Ollie," and bench installed at the edge of a pool. Hand-formed artisan cement over a steel armature.
A look into the studio with a sculpture, 'Ollie', underway.
The artist and his muse, 'Jellybean,' in the garden next to 'Buddha Dog'.
A hare in a yoga pose taking shape in the studio, one of three in a series.
Oil on board, 'Evening Serenity,' a cove off the St. Johns River.
A dancing hare is illuminated in a garden where musical events are often staged.
Primitively sculpted bust, 'The Stargazer', a portrait looking upward, hand-formed epoxy clay.
'Phases of the Blue Moon," welded steel
Hand-hammered copper wall sculpture, replicating a kimono form with a verdigris patina.
Oil on board: 'The Sentry'
A turquoise eye, 'Watching You', nestled among foliage.