Joni Falk: A Steady Presence
Over the course of 50 years, painter Joni Falk has remained a prominent voice in Phoenix and the West.
When Joni Falk was 8 or 9 years old, her aunt took her to the Art Institute of Chicago with a drawing group. She remembers them handing out paper and charcoal, and then encouraging the young students to copy some of the paintings. “They had an exhibit of [Edgar] Degas at the time, and they were just so beautiful,” Falk remembers. “That was my first sensitivity to art, right there in the museum in front of those great works.”
That initial experience with paintings, compounded by the guiding hands of family members, set Falk on a path in art, one that she began professionally 50 years ago, and one that she still treks on today. Although her journey began in Chicago, it largely takes place in Arizona, where Falk witnessed the rise of an
important part of the Western art market.
“When my husband, Bob, and I first got married, he got a job selling life insurance in Helena, Montana, so we lived there for a bit then moved to Seattle. We eventually moved six times the first year we were married, before finally ending up in Phoenix,” Falk says. “Once in Phoenix we owned a cocktail lounge in South Phoenix, and then later a hobby shop. Lots of different things. Bob was great at finding things for me to do. Later we owned an art store that was across the street from Troy’s Gallery in Scottsdale.”
Prior to that time, Falk had worked here and there on different art projects. After joining a women’s group after getting married, she was asked to do the illustrations for a cookbook. She had no training at that point, but took the assignment and marveled at how much fun she had. Later she would take classes, and was learning a great deal, but then the teacher quit. “Guess who got elected to teach the classes?” Falks says. “What really got me started was copying photos out of Arizona Highways magazines, but then I realized that copyrights might be an issue, so then I began painting still lifes with pottery and katsina, which I had begun collecting.”
Meanwhile, Troy’s across the street was beckoning. Falk had a friend who knew the gallery’s owner, Troy Murray, and made the introduction for the artist. “He agreed to see some of my work, so there I was with nine paintings all laid out for him to see. He came
in and looked at them and I was sure he hated them. But then he pointed to one and said, ‘Let’s put $95 on this one,’” Falk recalls. “At that time, that was twice what I was selling my paintings so I was very happy. He showed my paintings and sold a lot of them, and I slowly started giving him larger and larger works.”
This was a pivotal time for Western art in the late 1960s and early 1970s, particularly in Scottsdale. The Cowboy Artists of America was still in its infancy. Howard Terpning works would start turning up from Connecticut before his move west. And Olaf Wieghorst was still a fixture on the Scottsdale streets, as he lugged paintings around to galleries and clients. And Falk was right there for all of it. “I would get to meet Bob Abbett, Olaf Wieghorst, Earl Carpenter, James Boren and later share wall space with Howard Terpning and Harley Brown,” she says. “It was a wonderful time.”
It was around this time she also met landscape painter Bill Hughes, who was a huge influence on her work and style. “He taught me a lot about light and how to accomplish really great lighting in a painting,” she says. “And he was a really amazing teacher.”
These important early chapters of her career are similar to current chapters: studio time and hard work are difficult and time consuming, but yield rewarding results. “I remember working so hard back then, but it brought great recognition. I don’t know how I did it with two children. I remember doing five shows a month. I was sending artwork everywhere and practically living in the studio,” she says. “But then I was showing at Legacy, Settlers West, the Phippen
Museum and Desert Caballeros Western Museum and others. It was hard work, but worth it.”
Today she still shows at those galleries and museums, including at Desert Caballero’s annual women-only Cowgirl Up! show, of which she is one of the original artists of the exhibition that is now stepping into its 14th year. She also has a work in the Smithsonian. Early in her career she was invited to paint an Easter egg for the annual White House Easter egg event. Artists from all over the country were asked to participate, and after each event the eggs were sent to the Smithsonian. “So, yes I can say I have something in Smithsonian,” Falk says.
While art has been her career, it has also sustained her through trying times, including in the early 1990s when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. “My painting was my vital recovery. It was unbelievable how important it was to me,” the cancer survivor says. “I was able to focus on something positive. Other artists might have experienced this or are experiencing now, but remember that painting is a gift.”
Today, Falk’s painting interests are largely unchanged. She still prefers landscapes, scenes of the Taos Pueblo, Western still lifes with pottery and quiet, contemplative scenes of Native American figures or of teepees in peaceful locations.
“It’s her dramatic lighting that really speaks to me. She just captures the light so well in everything she does,” says Desert Caballeros curator Mary Ann Igna. “I’m lucky to have gotten to know her over the years as an artist and as a really great mentor to the Cowgirl Up! artists. I remember she gave us a quote one year for our show about how artists must persevere to survive. And that’s what she’s done. She found a niche and has stuck with it. And we are lucky enough to have one of her works in our permanent collection.”
For Falk, it is her love of the pueblos and the landscape that continuously drives her forward, as well as her desire to continuously learn as a painter. She attributes these qualities to two artists. “One inspiration in my work is Henry Farny. His paintings didn’t depict the brutal part of the Indain life. His work was more serene and that’s how I imagine it, more so than Indians fighting and all that,” Falk says. “I’m also inspired by Richard Schmid, who taught at the Scottsdale Artists’ School. It was such a thrill watching one of his classes. I had the pleasure of buying one of his demo pieces and I truly treasure it. I was also in his studio with him and it was so magical to watch him work.”
Although now in the 50th year of her career, Falk is still in the studio regularly and is still painting for galleries and shows. And her works are still generating significant interest. In early 2018, her painting Tranquility in the Pines sold at Scottsdale Art Auction for a record-setting $46,800, more than four times over the high estimate. Her work will next be seen in the 14th annual Cowgirl Up! show in Wickenburg, Arizona, in March.