Anne Emerson

I am both a writer and a painter and the two seem to me to feed each other, opening me to see the world simultaneously in light and metaphor  When I am working on a group of paintings like the Sky Series I become acutely aware of those great bubbling clouds above me as I walk in the Arboretum, of how they get smaller on the horizon, and of the extraordinary number of colors one can see in them. I paint what pleases me and try to capture some of the essence of the subject that seized me initially.  Most of my paintings are of things and places I love and am moved by.

 This past year I have decided to concentrate on pastels, a medium I find richly expressive and luminous to work with.  Pastels went out of fashion for almost a hundred years after Degas, but they have had a renaissance, as well they deserve, in the past twenty-five years. Pastel sticks are made of pure pigment and properly framed, are colorfast and stable.  They satisfy my need to paint fast and expressively, and still be able to go back and modify the painting.   I also paint in watercolor and oil and sometimes mix watercolor and pastel. 

 I am fortunate to be able to travel at this stage in my life, and to paint some of the extraordinary places I encounter. Recently I have painted a series on the Grand Canyon that are in a show in Paris in February and March of 2019. Other places dear to my heart that you will see on my website are Penobscot Bay in Maine, Sante Fe, Japan, South Africa and San Miguel Allende in Mexico.