Master glassblower Micke Johansson (b.1972) has since 2011 run his own glasshouse at home on the farm outside Örsjö, in the middle of the Småland glass kingdom. Johansson grew up in Flerohopp, which is an old mill community just outside Nybro in Småland. He started as a 16-year-old at the Glass School in Orrefors and soon got a job at Orrefors Glasbruk. Micke Johansson became champion at the age of 24.
After the time in Orrefors, Micke ran the glass cabin in Pukeberg for a few years and then built his own cabin. There he mainly works in the ariel and grail techniques, testing possibilities and challenging the techniques.
The Ariel technique, which means "spirit of air", was developed by Gustav Bergkvist in 1936. The Grail technique was developed by Knut Bergkvist in Orrefors already in 1916. "- The finest glassblowing technique is Ariel." Micke Johansson has developed and refined the technique and is now the only master in the world who blows the double-ariel technique. Micke Johansson is both a glassblower and a designer, which is a relatively unusual combination according to Swedish tradition.
After a scholarship to the Pilchuck Glass School in the USA and an internship with the renowned master Silvano Signoretto in Murano, Italein, Micke was inspired to develop his own design. For 30 years, Micke Johansson has worked with glass, explored it and developed the craft. He has, among other things, received Barometern-OT's cultural prize Gula Fjädern for its ability to preserve and at the same time challenge older craft techniques.
He wants to show that the Kingdom of Glass is alive. During the spring, courses in Grail and ariel technique take place at the Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, USA.
