“Yugen…an awareness of the universe that triggers emotional responses too deep and powerful for words…”Urban Dictionary

     The process of a lifelong love of art began for Jona the moment she could make marks on paper. Yet, itwas her time in Gallup, New Mexico, that made her think that art was more than mark making.

     Having moved often during her younger years, she learned adaptability and was exposed to a variety ofbeliefs and cultures. In Gallup, however, she saw and experienced deeply entrenched values andtraditions in the lifestyle, architecture, and art, around her. These and other experiences created astrong need within Jona, to live unencumbered by group beliefs and to explore freely, where hercuriosity led, especially where mind and spirit were concerned.

     In the mid-1980s, Jona's desire to create and learn led to art classes at the University of New Mexico inGallup, New Mexico. There, working from antique postcards and photographs, she painted watercolorportraits of Native Americans and became interested in Zuni pottery designs. (Zuni symbols continue toinspire her work today.)

     Jona's focus shifted, a few years later, with the birth of her daughter. She nurtured her daughter in theperforming arts and watched her grow to become an accomplished dancer. Jona's paintings reflectedher exploration of the fluidity and movement in dance. By late 2011 Jona's art became freer and moreintuitive, heading into abstraction, which was a genre through which she could readily express her loveof movement, music, color, and the cosmos.

     The Japanese word, Yugen, as defined in the lead to this biography, is also said to mean “a profound,mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe, and the sad beauty of human suffering”. Jona creditsthis emotion for her inspiration. Yugen provides her with a yearning for exploration and an awestruckadmiration for all this is seen and unseen. It is visible in the cosmic images that evolve from intuitiveapplications of vibrant color within her artwork.

     Jona's explorations led her to study with painter Cody Hooper and to attend the Artful Living/LivingArtfully seminars of choreographer Loren Fletcher. The impact of these mentors is apparent,respectively, in her technique and ardor. In 2013, Jona Lou Batt was honored as the New Mexico StateFair Blue-Ribbon award winner in the Oils and Acrylics division.

Learn more about Jona Lou Batt by visiting her website at:
https://www.artbyjonalou.com/