Today we’d like to introduce you to Anne Von Ehr.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I never could color inside the lines. As a child the pictures in my coloring books were just a suggestion. My pages were embellished with additional characters, wardrobe adjustments, elaborate backgrounds, and blended colors.
I graduated college with a degree in art, taught art in grade school, became a display designer, and proceeded to add another degree in interior design which I worked at for 5 years.
At that point my very wise mother bought me some soft pastels and gave me a kick in the pants. After a few classes I realized that making art made me feel like I’d come home. Fast forward almost 30 years and I’m still at it.
Although I’ve changed my medium and style many times, I’ve been working from my studio in an old building on the Fox River in downtown Aurora for 12 years now, and I love what I do.
Please tell us about your art.
My current medium is oil paint usually mixed with a cold wax medium to add body to my paint and my paintings are usually abstract. There is a great challenge to finding the right shapes and colors and to discover how a painting puts itself together. I find that if something I’ve been doing in my paintings becomes to rote or predictable, I need to find a way out of that maze and move on to the next labyrinth.
However, my artwork still has a mind of its own so that occasionally I drift back to my first loves, which were landscape and floral paintings. These pieces often come in the spring or fall when nature overwhelms me with its beauty. I enjoy seeing how the abstract work affects this work as they become looser and more colorful.
I intend that whatever I am painting calls out to someone, that you will see something that you recognize as mine, and love it or just accept it for what it is.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
I used to mourn for the years that I didn’t paint. Now I look back and I’m grateful for the years when I did. A successful year for me is one where my regular Monday classes are filled by students who are eager to learn and push me to be one step ahead of them. My year is a success when my studio and supplies have been paid for by my classes and artwork sold. It gives me great joy when I find I’ve even made money above and beyond these basic goals. Everyone has a different finish line, and although every artist loves to be able to bills, the most important way to achieve success is to define what your personal goals are and to work as hard as you can to achieve them. Whether you want to be rich and famous or just enjoy the actual time you paint doesn’t matter. Your personal satisfaction is what you aim for.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can see my art online at www.annevonehr.com, on Instagram at vonehranne or on Facebook at Anne Von Ehr, Artist. It would be great if everyone would go to Facebook and share my page. That is something everyone can do to help artists get their work out.
If you’d like to check out my work in person, pop in to Artemisia Gallery on 3rd Street in Geneva. My work is available in their beautiful space during regular business hours, year round.
My studio is also open by appointment, and I open it to the public for an Open house in the Spring where you’ll always find yummy snacks and a few specials. That’s when I premiere my few landscapes and florals which are always in demand. I think people can see that they are painted with a happy heart.
You can keep up with my other various show venues throughout the year on my Facebook page.
Contact Info:
- Address: Anne Von Ehr
- Website: www.annevonehr.com
- Phone: 6308922827
- Email: annevonehr@comcast.net
- Instagram: vonehranne
- Facebook: Anne Von Ehr, Artist
Image Credit:
Image credit, Victor Von Ehr
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