January - March 2017 / Reception Friday, February 24th 5 - 8pm
Rocks, Rivers & Trees - Sierra Foothills Landscape Series
Oil Painter, Jill Mahanna’s vibrant landscapes evoke the vitality of the natural world. Her large-scale paintings are at once a unique depiction of our forests and rivers, rocks and flowers and also an honoring of the land we live on. Each painting is a study in color and movement. Rapid brushstrokes and use of diagonals build form and create space that lead the viewer into the work. Eyes and imagination follow the paths through the woods, up the river, behind the rocks, in a compelling dance with nature. Jill’s work beautifully conveys the vibrant, powerful, joyful aspects of nature and what can be found in our own backyards if we take a minute to see.
ARTIST'S BIOGRAPHY:
Jill Mahanna grew up in Delaware and began studying with a local artist at age 13. She focused consistently on her art through middle school and high school, winning awards in local and state contests. After graduating from Duke University with degrees in fine art and art history, she lived a number of years in Durham, NC, working as a book designer and painting and drawing the figure.
In 1992, she loaded up her VW bus with art supplies and her dog and she and her partner traveled the country for a year. Lured to the Sierra foothills in northern California, she fell in love with the landscape and the vibrant community, and decided to put down roots. She worked a number of years with Oliver Jackson at Sacramento State where her focus shifted from the figure to landscape.
Now, many years and two children later, Mahanna continues to be captivated and inspired by the beauty of the landscape around her. She paints outdoors at every opportunity and exhibits her contemporary landscapes primarily in Northern California. She's exhibited at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival's juried art competition for several years, and is a resident at the Artists' Studio in the Foothills (ASiF) Visual Art Center and gallery in Grass Valley, participating in a number of shows each year. Mahanna's works may also be seen in local establishments and in private collections across the U.S. and Canada.
