Mission Falls Ranch
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
Thomas Merton
Working mainly in oil and oil pastel on a variety of surfaces, Joan is presently exploring the limits of color and pattern both in horses and in her surroundings on the ranch. She grew up in upstate New York, and received a bachelors degree in Fine Art from Michigan State University, and has resided in the West since 1962. She currently resides in St. Ignatius where she and her husband have a cattle ranch and raise and train Border Collies.
Joan has had many one person and group shows over the years, and teaches drawing and painting in Missoula and the Mission Valley. Her work can be seen at the Hangin’ Art Gallery in Arlee, the Montana West Gallery in Ronan, on her Facebook page Joan B. Mason, and in her studio in St. Ignatius.
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JOAN B. MASON
I have long been intrigued by the relationship of perception, emotion and spirit, and how these are filtered through our human connections and experiences to be distilled into creative activity. I believe we all have the creative urge…it is just that some of us persist at the activity long enough to find real joy in it. Artist/theorist Max Bill believed that “art is the medium that makes thought visible”. As a result, I have learned to not only look outward as I paint, but to also look inward at the mind/heart processes that happen when the joy is expressed in line and color and texture.
It is a joy to travel from the beginning of an idea, to a final statement of line and color. But I believe that the traveling of the journey is the important thing…and not the product of that journey. Art is not a thing but an act…hopefully an act of passion. It is a verb...you must be in motion for it to happen. I hope that through my work, it will be evident what my life has been, what it is, and where I am going. Please join me on that journey of passion!
