Kathy Maloney Johnson: Lessons In and Out of School
@ McHenry County College | Epping Gallery
8900 U.S. Highway 14, Crystal Lake, IL 60012
On view through Wednesday, December 23rd
McHenry County College is thrilled to host Kathy Maloney Johnson’s solo exhibition, “Lessons In and Out of School.”
November 16 – December 23, 2026
McHenry County College | Epping Gallery
8900 U.S. Highway 14, Crystal Lake, IL 60012
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ARTIST STATEMENT
I decided years ago to paint with watercolors because I had young children, and easy clean-up allows the freedom to walk away from artwork whenever necessary. I do not start out with ideas for paintings. I warm up by messing around with the paint and water. When colors and shapes remind me of something interesting, I emphasize it and get a sense of direction bit by bit. Plenty of attempts go nowhere, so I put them aside. I keep interesting “duds” and have a look at them later, use them for collage, or eventually give up and toss them. Sometimes paintings take on a life of their own right away. They become like a comment, a joke, a cartoon, a dance, a familiar landscape or scene from home, and often they tell a story.
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BIO
Kathy Maloney Johnson grew up in the suburbs of major and minor cities in California, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. The family packed up and moved whenever her father’s company transferred him. Frequent moving made her feel attached to “things” since they went along with the move, but people were left behind, mostly never seen again and often sorely missed. When anyone asked, “Where are you from?” the answer seemed long and complicated. Kathy envied people who had a hometown.
Initially attending college in Virginia, studying Costume Design, Kathy left school for a while, then studied art at the Ft. Wayne Art Institute shortly after the school became part of Indiana University and graduated with a BFA in Drawing and Painting in 1981. Kathy married a Montana artist in a little town in the badlands of eastern Montana, moved to Florida (the state where her mother grew up), and stayed there from 1983–2025, teaching art for the Diocese of Orlando Catholic Schools until retiring in 2019. After her own children graduated from college, she signed up for the Master of Liberal Studies program at Rollins College, hoping to fill in gaps in her education and graduating in 2013. Kathy paints, sews, and makes things mostly on a small scale and with a fair commitment to good craftsmanship and imagination. For more about Kathy, visit https://kathymaloneyjohnson.squarespace.com.
IMAGE CREDIT: Kathy Maloney Johnson, “Alligator Stream,” 2020, Watercolor
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Tags: Crystal Lake, Kathy Maloney Johnson, Lessons In and Out of School, McHenry County, McHenry County College
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