Rachel and Todd Johnson are Brentwood Academy high school sweethearts and both staggeringly talented. A real estate team it seems everything they touch only grows more beautiful. Rachel is the front of house while Todd consults on all things project and construction related leaving clients feeling like they have their own General Contractor on-hand to help
them make decisions and give them ideas.
The Johnsons, along with their children and standard poodle, live in a “real-life log cabin” in the heart of a typical Brentwood neighborhood. Walking into the front door, you are struck by the elegant beauty and enveloped in the warmth of the house. Their house has all the modern conveniences while maintaining the charm of the cabin. The ceilings are set at a height comparable to modern homes and are a statement piece in their white-washed dining room. In an effort to fix a broken fridge in 2012, Rachel and Todd discovered a substantial amount of space hiding in the walls. A quick renovation opened the kitchen up to reveal a spacious, modern and charming floor plan. You are drawn to an abundance of natural light off the kitchen on the back of house. There you’ll find Rachel’s pottery studio looking out on the back yard. The whole studio is filled with the natural light coming in a full wall of windows and is enhanced by the white interior of the room. While you walk around you begin to realize the entire room has been designed around her needs. The concrete floor has been painted with an easily cleanable lacquer and Todd has added drains in the floor that allow the room to be hosed out.
Rachel began her work as a ceramicist almost eight years ago by simply agreeing to take a class with a friend. Her goal is to make “extremely functional items” all while staying within a color scheme of whites, blues and greens; “peaceful and beachy”. Looking at her pieces they have a delicate and elegant look most pottery pieces don’t evoke. Her pieces are pragmatic and even her business cards read to her pottery ideology; “handmade pottery for everyday use.” Like most truly talented artists when asked about how she plans her work, Rachel says she usually has an idea but in the end she has to “follow what the clay is doing.” Early in her pottery career Rachel was an artist at The Clay Lady’s Artist Co-op and Galleries at in Nashville which houses a very small number of evolving artists. You can commission items from Rachel by emailing her at potterybyrj@gmail.com.
Todd is a master pipe maker and has been pipe making for over 20 years and has trained almost every successful North American pipe maker. He got his artistic start with his father on his pre 1948 hotrods in high school. After he made a pipe for a friend on a whim Todd decided it was time to “learn how to make a pipe for real” and apprenticed all over the world spending some of his favorite time in Copenhagen. Todd shapes are influenced by Danish modernism, as well as the Japanese concept of “wabi-sabi,” often defined as the intersection of transience and imperfection. As Todd puts it, “symmetry is always the least interesting way to achieve balance.” One of Todd’s more unique pieces is owned by the Museum of Modern Art in its photogram form. It can be seen in rotating exhibits. Todd travels to Northern Italy to hand select his wood for the pipes, most often Briarwood, paying special attention to grain stroke. Todd's pieces can be found at www.smokingpipes.com
Rachel Crawford Johnson
Realtor
BHHS Woodmont Realty
Cell 615-663-7958
Office 615-661-7800
