The Artist

Joella Jean Mahoney is the rare artist blessed to create increasingly important work for more than fifty years. This exhibition provides a remarkable review of her impressive work and her growth as a contemporary master painter from the early 1950s to the present—five decades of recording the essence of the Colorado Plateau as she experiences it.

Manhoney’s powerfully emotive works capture vistas of the region’s vast supernatural landscapes and intimate spiritual spaces, conveying the force and beauty of this unparalleled province, often in abstract overtones.

“I am often told that my paintings give the experience of being on this special landscape and create a new awareness of its beauty. This exhibit is so meaningful to me because it completes the cycle begun in 1951 when I came to Flagstaff,” states Mahoney. “As a young artist, I was awestruck by the vibrant power, mystery, and beauty of this place. The Colorado Plateau stands unique throughout the world. I have been blessed to live in a place that provides me with unending inspiration and a compelling vision for my life’s work as an artist.”

Each of Mahoney’s paintings is accompanied by the artist’s personal story, revealing her inner thoughts. She states, “The color in my paintings is not an exaggeration. The Southwest is truly a land of color and color holds an emotional charge. It can be healing because it may bring up to the conscious level an awareness of feelings. The experience of beauty can also be healing because it stimulates the feeling of wholeness.”