ARTIST STATEMENT
As a growing novice, I’ve developed my skills slowly and painstakingly by completing commissioned paintings and portraits, classes, and series. Looking back, it feels like I was being pulled through a vice as each piece presented unique challenges and taught me something new about different mediums, styles, brushes, and techniques. Now, though, I am missing something, and this missing piece is me. Now that I have a more developed skill set and “vocabulary”, I am diving into new mediums, styles, and subjects as I chase my authentic voice. I submitted early works, including oil portraits, as well as a new multimedia piece. I consider my art a work in progress, and I would love for you to follow along with me!
ABOUT THE ARTIST
A native Chicagoan, I grew up loving arts and crafts, but never expected to become a painter. I worked in restaurants, trained in anthropology and public health, and then an unexpected chronic illness rerouted my path. In the fall of 2021, I signed up for a beginner oil-painting class with teacher Fran Gregory at the Oak Park Art League and felt a spark I hadn’t noticed since childhood. I wanted to learn how to paint. Only weeks later, though, what would become five lower-leg surgeries within five years to manage worsening arthritis left me bedridden with complex chronic nerve injuries and disability, wondering if I’d ever return to my former professional life, or any semblance of the life I knew. During brief periods of wellness, though, I was determined to learn how to paint.
© Annie Nacht Morgan