Ann Pickett, Twosome, acrylic, 48” x 36”. Courtesy of the Art League..
Currently on view through April 7, 2019.
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With movement, mystery, and appetite for life, the work of painter Ann Pickett intertwines the figure with its environment in The Exuberance of Life. Featuring large acrylic paintings, the exhibit will be on view at The Art League gallery March 9-April 7, 2019.
Created by Pickett’s unflinching, spirited brushstroke, the abstract forms that emerge from her work are vivacious and lush, evoking feminine figures in her exploration of landscapes and domestic scenes. In Sedona, one such landscape, the rocky hillside tumbles into the curved silhouette of a woman; a true meeting of figure and ground.
Filled with zip and zest and light, her figures are rhymithic creatures, simultaneously emerging and retreating into the background. Affectionately calling the interior scenes “roomscapes,” Pickett’s figures dance between domesticity and eccentricity. Hearth becomes hipbone; a chair becomes a cheek. In Laid Back, the sette becomes the sitter.
A gestural painter, she works with acrylics, favoring their fast-drying nature that allows her to continually layer paint. “I need freshness and spontaneity,” she remarked. “I rarely mix my colors a second time.” Once unbottled, every shade becomes a unique moment in time, from apricot, to rose, to her favorite Ann’s Blue.
The artist commented that much of her energy, encouragement, and motivation comes from her instructors and peers at The Art League school. “The classes keep me painting. It’s so inspiring. It’s a great community.”
Ann Pickett is an award winning abstract painter based in McLean, Virginia. With a 25-year career in graphic design, Pickett began painting abstracts in 2005, and received the Shayna Heiman Simkin Award in 2015. Most recently, Pickett has been featured in Elan Magazine in March of 2018, and will be exhibiting new works at her upcoming solo show at The Art League Gallery.
The Art League is located at 105 North Union St., Studio 21, Alexandria, VA. For more information visit www.theartleague.org or call 703-683-1780.
