New Jersey artist Joanne Miller Rafferty’s work has been seen in museums, thousands of public collections, in film and television. Her work is ethereal, full of light and depth. She layers textures of exotic papers, acrylics, polymers, metallic powders – things that reflect light and color. Some admirers see abstract landscapes; others see figures.

Joanne Miller Rafferty painting in our new Savannah home.

In 1999, my parents commissioned Joanne to paint a piece for the niche space over their Palm Desert, California home. They gave Joanne the exact measurements of the space and it fit beautifully and was a focal point to the room. It’s large – nearly 5 feet – and was beautifully framed by Robin Hutchins, acclaimed framer in New Jersey. There it hung, for all to admire, for 15 years.

My parents living room in Palm Desert, California

I lost both my parents in 2014, just six month apart, which was enormously difficult and emotional. Then came the task for my brothers and I to dismantle their home, their belongs. The painting was crated up and shipped to our New Jersey home where it hung, with prominence, in our entry hall.

The painting hanging in our New Jersey home.

When we sold that home in 2016 we again had it crated and it was stored until our new home in Savannah was completed. It now hangs in the gallery wall space entrance to the master suite. We think it’s perfect. In my mother’s home and in our New Jersey home the walls were a pale butter. The walls in our new home are BM Balboa Mist and we think a lovely backdrop to the painting.

Listed in Who’s Who in American Art, Joanne Miller Rafferty is a member of the National Association of Women Artist and has enjoyed a career spanning forty years. www.joannerafferty.com