Featured Artist: Mary T. Johnson

Mary T. Johnson is a Glasgow-based artist whose work explores the beauty and fragility of the natural world. Originally from the Western Isles, she moved to Glasgow in 1991 as a young single mother to study art, eventually graduating from the Glasgow School of Art's Printmaking Department in 1999 and completing an M.A. in 2007.

Over the years, Mary has built a varied career across the cultural sector - working with communities, archives, museums, galleries, and libraries. In recent years, she has dedicated herself fully to developing her artistic practice. This exhibition marks a significant return to sharing her work publicly. Her art has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and her pieces are held in public collections, including NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde's 100 Flowers Collection.

At the heart of this exhibition are Mary's tulip prints - works that celebrate the resilience and beauty of our natural world while acknowledging its fragility under environmental pressures. With plastic pollution now found in places as remote as Mount Everest and in the most intimate parts of the human body, her work prompts reflection on both global and personal scales.

The square prints presented here are close-up views into the heart of a single tulip. Each is hand-inked à la poupée onto an etching plate, revealing delicate drawn marks of tulips in varying stages - from promising flower bud to precious seed head. These prints are experiments in etching and printing, emerging from a place of curiosity and reverence. Flowers, leaves, petals, and play form the basis of her compositions.

Through this body of work, Mary invites us to find joy in the simple act of noticing - a tulip stretching to the light, a petal highlighted by the sun. It is her hope that this joy and sense of wonder resonate with viewers, offering moments of reflection, connection, and hope.