Jóhann Maríusson was born in Keflavik, in 1958. Jóhann was and is a natur child. Jóhann's handicraft teacher was Erlingur Jónsson, a local artist who taught him many of the tricks of the trade when using hand tools that came in handy later in life. Jóhann began creating art when he spent time studying in the United States from 1990 to 1997. There he met a sculptor named Ralf Hurst, who had taught at Florida State University, among other places, and who had a formative influence on Jóhann as an artist ©