Night Rising

Althought the artist's signature appears at viewer's lower right, this painting was hung horizontally by the Fendersons.  The last photo shows Night Rising hung horizontally.

(Born 1967) Jeanette Katoney vividly expresses her Navajo heritage through painting and drawing. Her striking abstracts in pastels or oils are obviously derived from her physical and cultural environment. This is emphasized even more in her works using natural materials from the Navajo Reservation area.

Jeanette pursued artistic training at Glendale Community College, was awarded an Associate of Arts Degree from the Institute of American Indian Arts, and worked toward a Batchelor of Arts degree at Northern Arizona University.

She learned elements of rug designs, natural colors, and the strength of the cultural from her mother, a remarkable rug weaver in her own right. Jeanette's father began studying the wisdom of Navajo culture as a young man and has devoted most of his time to that since his retirement over a decade ago. His advice and encouragement have helped her retain a Navajo identity throughout her education

The relationship of ancient ways with modern times has been a theme in her paintings. Her use of bold colors, particularly hues of red, and symbols dating back to petroglyphs, together with European media of pastels, prismacolors and oils, serve to bring together the ancient and the modern. She uses the strength of the individual to interpret the wisdom from the past into meaning for the present. Her painting most often reflects various elements of living on the earth, using cloud, feather and other symbols. Navajo heritage contains a great reverence for all living things as well as for spiritual beings. Many of Jeanette's paintings reflect the interplay of these forces.

Through a unique combination of Navajo themes, environmental elements, and understanding, Jeanette is able to provide a unique interpretation of the beauty and majesty of the Southwest.