ARTIST STATEMENT
I love puppets – even the word makes me happy. Three Ps, and just saying it feels like erupting in FUN: “Puppet! Puppet, puppet, puppet!!!” (Try it. See – wasn’t that fun?) That puppet spirit infuses other things that seem to come alive and almost feel human as soon as a couple simple objects unite: buttons and wire that form eyes and hair, for example. Then suddenly you have a little playmate who looks at you with a little soul that says, “Let’s play!” This urge to connect with other little beings makes me see faces in floor patterns, tree bark, flowers…after a while, anywhere I might look. And that makes me happy and feel like a kid again, realizing I’m never alone. And fun is always on tap. 😀
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Anne Nordhaus-Bike is a longtime member of Woman Made Gallery. An award-winning artist fluent in multiple media, Anne now focuses primarily on watercolor painting inspired by nature and influenced by astrology and mysticism. Her work has appeared in numerous solo and group shows as well as many arts programs, presentations, and performances. Her work also has been published in periodicals and books; covered in numerous print publications; and featured in broadcast media, both on television and in a feature film. She received a degree in art history, with honors, from the University of Chicago in 1981 and went on to launch a fine arts column that ran for two decades in a Chicago newspaper, Gazette Chicago, where she has served in various capacities since the newspaper’s founding in 1983. She joined Gazette Chicago’s board of directors in 2004. She also works as an astrologer, and since 2013 she has appeared as “Astrologer Anne” on WGN TV, WGN Radio, other national radio stations, and several podcasts. She launched her astrology book, Follow The Sun, at Woman Made Gallery in 2012 to showcase her original watercolors for all 12 zodiac signs, which appear in the book along with some of her other paintings. Anne is president of ANB Communications, a communication and multi media firm she founded in 1993. Among her many honors, she was named to the National Women’s Hall of Fame’s Wall of Fame.
© Anne Nordhaus-Bike