Joyce Johnson started carving in wood when she was about 10 years old. It was her first love  and continues to be although she also works in clay, direct plaster and other materials to be reproduced in bronze.

She spent most of her early childhood in Concord, Massachusetts,  and there developed a passion for literature and writing inspired by the many literary figures that lived in that historic town during the 19th Century. Uncertain about what profession she wished to pursue, she went to Madrid, Spain, when she was 26 years old and became enraptured with the country, remaining there for two years. She began to study sculpture seriously with one of Spain's most respected sculptors, Don Ramon Mateu, who encouraged her to return to America to continue her studies. She was accepted at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston from which she graduated with honors in 1962 and completed a graduate teaching fellowship there the following year.

Ms. Johnson then returned to the family home in North Eastham, starting the School of Sculpture there that evolved into Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. As Castle Hill's founder and first president and director, she directed the Center for 10 years, turning over the nonprofit educational institution to a membership-elected board in order to have more time for sculpture. 

Since then she has written for The Provincetown Advocate and The Cape Codder. She also produces an oral history program — the Sands of Time — on WOMR-FM in Provincetown and teaches sculpture at Castle Hill where she serves on the Board of Directors.

Ms. Johnson maintains her sculpture studio in North Eastham and teaches privately. She has had a number of one-person show in New England, including at the Cape Cod Conservatory in West Barnstable, Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Amherst College in Woodstock, Connecticut, and Wellfleet Art Gallery in Wellfleet. Her work has been included in group shows including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Cape Museum of Art in Dennis, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Ethel Putterman Gallery 8 in Orleans and Tanzer Gallery in New York City.

Ms. Johnson has received reviews in New York Review, Cape Cod Times, Cape Arts and the Boston Globe, among others. She has been commissioned for public sculptures for Probus Gardens in Cornwall, England, and at High Head public lands in North Truro.