"We have been very strenuously conditioned against solitude. To be alone is considered to be a grievous and dangerous condition. So I beg you to recall in detail any times when you were alone and discover your exact response at those times.
I suggest to artists that you take every opportunity of being alone, that you give up having pets and unnecessary companions.  You will find the fear that we have been taught is not just one fear but many different fears.  When you discover what they are they will be overcome.
Most people have never been alone enough to feel these fears.  But even without the experience of them they dread them.  I suggest that people who like to be alone, who walk alone will perhaps be serious workers in the art field."

AGNES MARTIN

This is Gonna Hurt Like Hell
  oil on linen, 18"x20", 20 04

Fortitude Amid Perplexity I
oil on linen, 9"x11", 2004

Swing Your Partner 
oil on linen, 24"x26", 2004 

Fortitude Amid Perplexity III
oil on linen, 9"x11", 2004

Whipped
oil on linen, 37"x40", 2004

Admonishment
oil on linen, 14"x16", 2004

Jo Ann Jones' narrative paintings and drawings negotiates the intricate space that oftentimes exists between memory and anxiety while addressing the complex nature of relationships; be it our relationship to strangers, best friends or lovers.

Most of the work is on an intimate scale, allowing the viewer to simultaneously investigate and experience the entire painting as a whole from a comfortable distance.

Jo Ann studied at the University of Illinois and received her MFA from Yale University. She has received the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painting Award, fellowships at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, the MacDowell Colony and will take over as chair of the Painting Department at the Maine College of Art in Portland, Maine.

My time here in Roswell has made an indelible mark on my soul and has challenged my existence as an artist. This is truly a unique opportunity for any artist fortunate enough to be able to experience it; my deepest gratitude to everyone involved.

I would also like to thank my family and friends for being so understanding and patient. 

A very special thanks to Aaron for his unconditional love and respect.

JoAnn Jones

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