Johanne Mangi remembers discovering art at a tender, young age. At 7 years old she was copying greeting cards and cartoon characters. “Since I can remember, I tried to draw anything and everything,” she says. In college, and after, she tried other careers, but art was always calling to her. “I never gave up on creative pursuits, particularly drawing.”
Tesoro, oil on linen board, 18 x 14”
Today Mangi is a professional and full-time artist. Dogs and horses are her passion. “I never remember not having them or thinking about them every day,” she says. “I’ve had several of each throughout my life. Horses have always been a heart-stopping passion and growing up in Upstate New York gave me plenty of opportunity to be around them. I read anything I could including thoroughbred racing magazines as well as frequenting the backside of Saratoga racetrack to get close to these beautiful animals. Eventually, I acquired my own horse farm, fulfilling a childhood dream.”
White Lightening, oil on linen board, 20 x 16”
For her dogs, her own pack of dogs are her muse. “They continue to provide inspiration and since I am an avid proponent of painting from life I heartily use them as a reference,” she adds. “Whenever I get stuck working on a commission, I don’t have to look very far for real-life references.”
Mangi credits much of her success to Richard Schmid’s Putney Painters, and also Brush & Palette. Her teachers were Schmid, Nancy Guzik, Sherrie McGraw and David A. Leffel. “They literally changed my life,” Mangi says. “The never-ending learning is what attracts me. I tell my students to embrace this process as the glory is short-lived.”
Ready For Work (detail), oil on linen board, 18 x 14”
Her work is collected around the country as well as internationally, and she has also won numerous art awards. The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog in New York City refers to her as their “artist in residence.” Additionally, Mangi has been featured in numerous magazines and is a member of Oil Painters of America, Portrait Society of America, American Impressionist Society and the Salmagundi Club. —
Want to See More?
www.johannemangi.com
(203) 215-5255
mangifineart@johannemangi.com
Represented by West Wind Fine Art
Colorado Springs, CO
www.westwindfineart.com
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