Last week, we talked about some bronze babes hanging out in North Georgia. No, Brenau girls aren't tanning at the Amphitheatre, we're talking the carefully crafted figures cast forever in bronze sprinkled around Gainesville and North Georgia.
Gregory Johnson, of Cumming, is the man behind a good bit of those statues. His resume is so long it's almost daunting, but you may recognize his works: General Longstreet on Longstreet Circle, Lucile the Tiger on Green Street, or the Poultry Farmer in Cumming. Maybe you've seen the war memorials in Forsyth or Union counties. Maybe you went to Brenau and have taken numerous pictures of and with the varying bronze students on the front lawn.
Johnson wasn't always a sculptor, but he has always been an artist. As a kid, he completed one of those ads that asks you to draw a famous character, like Bambi, and send it in.
"Lo and behold, my mom and dad had a guy in our living room - this is 1965 - wanting to sell us like a 10- or 12-thousand dollar package, which was out of my parents' reach," Johnson said. "So instead, I went through a long list of teachers. And I would get better than them and we'd go find a better one."
That cycle continued as Johnson worked alongside his father, a carpenter-contractor, filling nail holes with putty. One day at a job site, someone told Johnson's father to take his 13-year-old son to see a woman - an artist herself - that lived down the street, as she had some "fabulous nude paintings."
"He should have just said she had some fabulous paintings," Johnson said. They went home, and after some initial resistance from Mom, Johnson eventually met June Ann Holtz.
"So I went over there with my mom, a couple of paintings in tow, and she took me under her wing," Johnson said. "She's just the sweetest lady in the whole world. So she took me under her wing when I was 13, I worked with her for three years and she taught me, really, how to draw."
But Johnson said she didn't just teach him basic drawing skills. "When I say, 'how to draw' I mean how to meticulously copy a photograph where you couldn't tell the difference between the two."
Johnson studied art at several schools, ending with a Masters of Science in Art when he began his career. He began painting his favorite subject - "Old people on front porches " - but learned there was little market for that, so he moved to original print-making, similarly without the success he desired.
He moved in Georgia in 1982, later opening a studio in Cumming. His first big project was the war memorial in Cumming.
"That was a memorial dedicated to all wars and it has the southern, ladder-back chair with the helmet and the empty boots and socks and three-corner folded flag on the seat," Johnson described. "That to me was one of my freshest ideas because, many memorials you go to... you might have lost a female friend who was black and overweight and short, but you're looking at a female who is Caucasian and tall and thin. So the beauty of the chair is that you bring to that chair your lost loved one - and that has been a very difficult idea to top."
Other pieces of Johnson's work include memorials to Cole Miller and Jennie Kern at Challenged Child and Friends, the Cleveland Gold Miner, Lady Justice and John Forsyth in Forsyth County. He's also been working on some modern pieces over the last few years - one you can see at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center and another at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega. He's also made plenty of customized pieces that aren't on display to the public - but you can see some of those pieces, inquire about your own piece or just look at some of the amazing creations on his website. Or, check out his Facebook page and give it a like. You can also listen to second part of the feature from the Afternoon News Wrap above!
Next week, we'll take a look at Foxfire, a publication steeped in Appalachian history that's making history itself.
Until next time,
Stay curious.
