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| Tickle Your Fancy 14 x 11 Fine art limited edition AVAILABLE |
"My favorite escape was climbing trees. I'd search for the tallest tree' could find, pull myself up into its branches, and begin to climb. I pushed upward from limb to limb until the voices of children playing below faded into the rustling of leaves. I ventured higher and higher, testing my faith as the branches grew progressively thinner. Once near the top, I perched precariously on a limb, braced against the trunk as it swayed in the wind. This was my own world, and from here I could see forever."
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| Tippy Toes 24 x 18 Original acrylic on board AVAILABLE |
"At the age of twelve, I was working in the woods with my father, building a log cabin - hewing logs with an axe, draw blade, and chain saw. Our family moved to a new home in the heart of the Sebago Lakes region. Majestic cathedral pines towered over the large Dutch Colonial house that faced northwest over eleven miles of lake, with a view of Mount Washington in the distance. This lonesome house had no foundation and no septic system, and it was not insulated for the long Maine winters. We dug the foundation by hand, crawling on our hands and knees, chipping bedrock from narrow trenches. My father had grown up on a farm and believed in the virtues of good, hard work. I continued to work for him in my early teens, but I found myself spending more and more time in the sanctuary of my bedroom."
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| Lazy Days 17 x 14 Original acrylic on board AVAILABLE |
"I felt I had led a rather sheltered life in the rural climate of Maine, and the reality of attending a college for the arts seemed out of reach. Perhaps I lacked confidence, or perhaps I lacked encouragement. In any case, I never went to a formal art school. I studied for two years at the Central Maine Vocational Technical Institute for mechanical and architectural design, and I then began working for architects and builders."
"Although I did not inherit my father's mathematical proficiency, my eye for perspective and my knack for illustrating architecture proved very helpful during my first few years of working with architects and developers. After I had proved my abilities, my father invited me to work in his company. I gladly accepted his offer, as working in the family business seemed to promise greater rewards."
"As the business grew, I found myself burdened with more and more responsibilities. In time I became depressed, and my senses began to numb. Eventually I reached a point where I became overwhelmed and riddled with guilt. Realizing that I was never going to achieve excellence in the construction business, I decided that I should do what I had most desired. My father had a heart-to-heart talk with me and revealed a side of him I'd never seen before. He said he felt he was letting my talents go to waste. It felt strange hearing this strong, burly man suggest I pursue a career in the arts. This began what was to become a lifelong vision quest, one that gave my life a whole new meaning."
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| Role Model 24 x 18 Original acrylic on board AVAILABLE |
"As the business grew, I found myself burdened with more and more responsibilities. In time I became depressed, and my senses began to numb. Eventually I reached a point where I became overwhelmed and riddled with guilt. Realizing that I was never going to achieve excellence in the construction business, I decided that I should do what I had most desired. My father had a heart-to-heart talk with me and revealed a side of him I'd never seen before. He said he felt he was letting my talents go to waste. It felt strange hearing this strong, burly man suggest I pursue a career in the arts. This began what was to become a lifelong vision quest, one that gave my life a whole new meaning."
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| Seeing is Believing 24 x 18 Original acrylic on board AVAILABLE |
"I determined to cultivate my art and learn to survive from it. Taking on any other type of work would certainly have been a distraction, as I had not kept up my painting during my previous employment. I worked in my studio day and night, seven days a week, stopping only to sleep for a couple of hours atop my homemade drawing board. I rented out my house because I could not afford the mortgage payment and was never home, anyway. Home was in my head, and my head was in my studio. Taking no time off for leisure, I diligently kept up this pace for two years."
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| The Promise 16 x 13 Fine art limited edition AVAILABLE |
"When I was twenty-three I moved to the harbor city of Portland, Maine. Working for an art gallery, I was able to arrange a rent/trade agreement for the vacant basement below. It was dark and musty, and the furnace seemed to use up most of the oxygen. The walls were made of crumbling brick and fieldstone. The mortar had turned to dust, and calcium deposits lined the cracks. I found some old French doors, built them into partitions, and hung drop lights from the ceiling. It was home for a while, but eventually the furnace exploded and the basement was flooded with black, sooty water. I found myself out on the street on a cold winter night walking through a snowstorm, too proud to go home to my parents and needing a floor on which to sleep."
"There were times when I felt like giving up, but eventually I turned things around by perfecting my artistic talent. If it had not been for my weaknesses, I never would have discovered my strengths. As my body of work grew, so did my place in the art community."
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| Up and Away 36 x 24 Original acrylic on board SOLD |
Contact me with inquiries.
anniec@ecgallery.com
