Cotton Bolls, oil on canvas, 28 x 22, signed lower right: JM, Mahaffey’s expressionistic handling of the paint is a departure from the era’s Forth Worth Circle, with whom she is aligned, specifically in reference to her spontaneous brushstrokes. The resulting texture and movement imbue her simple scenes with energy, as in this nearly abstracted, closely cropped image. While Mahaffey’s celebrated floral paintings are many in number, this image asserts a cubist sensibility. Characteristic thick black contour lines extend to the edges of the canvas, dividing the space into geometric planes of surface. In effect, the organic, feathery forms of the cotton bolls are pronounced, framed against the structural quality of the outer edges of the canvas. An East Texas native, Mahaffey spent her entire career, spanning over sixty years, in Fort Worth. She studied under Sally Blythe Mummert, and was known for her involvement within the community, in the city she loved.