I was raised in Canyon, Texas in the shadows of our beautiful Panhandle Plains Historical Museum. This was my only exposure to art in my childhood with the exception of West Texas State College. I was used as a model in some of the drawing classes at WT. I was fascinated by the paintings of the college students. So at the age of 6 years, in first grade at Canyon, Texas, I decided I would become an artist. My only instruction came from the museum collection of art to study, library books to read, and plenty of paper for drawing.
As an adult, I have studied in our college classes. I traveled to study with some of the greatest of artists–Clyde Aspevig, Wison Hurley, George Carlson, Ramon Kelley–just to mention a few. Also, Rich Nichols, Guido Frick, and abstract artist, Chuck Olson, have been to Amarillo to teach. I studied with Dord Fitz, Ben Konis, and with Elaine de Kooning.
Whatever has happened in life is what influenced my art. I have loved painting portraits, hiring models, and working to catch their image in oil, pastel and charcoal. As a wildlife rehabilitator, working with a veterinarian to save wounded, ill, or orphaned area wildlife, I was able to capture their image and personality in pastel or sculpted in clay or stone. When I became a pilot, I turned to beautiful skyscapes in oil. My studio on the rim of Palo Duro Canyon allowed me to move to plein aire landscapes and sunsets that I saw daily. If captured indoors, I would move to still life.
Now I am painting to music, thoughts and memories. The paintings are a movement of color in oil or acrylics, painted to my thoughts at the time and the music filling the quiet of the night at my easel. It is an uninterrupted time and thoughts are not disturbed. It is a beautiful experience for me. I do hope you will find joy and pleasure in my abstracts also.
I do not name my abstracts. They are numbered. I do not want to influence your thoughts of what they are, what they mean, their color or movement. I want them to be felt personally by the viewer.
I address this to you–Art Lover. Thanks for letting me share a little about myself, how embarrassing, as I try to share my thoughts and the reason that I must paint.
Thank you,
Ann Crouch
