About The Artist
Tyrel Johnson is an artist who has united his passion for sculpture and his love of woodworking to create artwork that is rich with meaning and design. His contemporary use of wood paired with a traditional approach to sculpture have limitless potential. It is this potential that excites him the most.
The youngest of 16, Tyrel grew up working with his siblings in his fathers’ foundry throughout high school and into his early 20s. The family is adept at the lost wax foundry process including traditional monumental scaling, sculpting, and casting. By the time he graduated high school he had helped sculpt and cast several monuments as well as many castings of well known sculptors. In his early twenties, Tyrel moved into high end construction specializing in framing custom roofs by hand as well as fine trim carpentry. His construction company was always fully booked due to his ability to deliver high quality service as well as his calm honest demeanor. Highly driven, he spent seven years studying anatomy, in great depth, during his late twenties. He then turned his focus to design in his early thirties. He knew he didn’t want to share his work until his skills were sharp, but more importantly; he wanted his method of expression to form organically. His dream of becoming an artist when he grew up held a personal caveat. That his skills would be such that he could express himself freely without sacrificing quality. “An artistic mind is only free when the hands are capable of executing the dreams they are asked to imitate” is his guiding motto.
In the few years since his first show in 2018, Tyrel has won Best of Show and People’s Choice awards at Sculpture in the Hills 2021 as well as Best of Show-3D Out West Art Show 2022 and People Choice at Outwest Artshow 2024. He has also been featured in Cowboys & Indians March 2019, Mountain Living January 2018/January 2022, Big Sky Journal October 2020, Equestrian Living March 2022, Cowboys and Indians July 2022, and Elite Equestrian November 2022, Western Equestrian Fall 2023, Elite Equestrian Fall 2023, Western Art and Architecture Aug. Sept. 2023, Mountain Living Jan/Feb 2024, and Elite Equestrian Sept/Oct 2024. His work has also can be spotted in the books Natural Elegance from WRJ Design in Jackson, WY and Foundations from JLF Architects of Bozeman, MT.