ann-marie graves fine art

Create! 

My love of art, photography and wanting to create beautiful things began at a very early age. When I was in the 7th grade, my parents gave me my first oil painting set for Christmas, and I have never stopped painting!  

My painting has evolved from my love of photography and my love of nature in every form.  Looking through a camera lens allowed me to isolate tiny fragments of the “big picture”, and I loved that! I could be standing in the middle of a busy city square, on a street overrun with discarded trash, or on a beach with one hundred other people, yet, I could take a photograph of one blooming flower, a plant that had taken root in the crack of a sidewalk, or a seagull standing on the shore.  And, in that one captured frame, the noise of the crowds, the trash on the street, and the all the extraneous outside interferences vanished.  What was left was an isolated moment of quiet beauty.

Now, I find myself repeating the same theme with my paintings.  A captured moment.   A close-up of something beautiful that has been removed from its surroundings.  Exaggerated and observed from a different perspective that may be abstract at first glance, yet fully recognizable.  A moment of solitude originating from the chaos of life.  I am always learning, always evolving, and always looking forward to the next painting.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my work.  Check back frequently, as I am always updating and posting my new creations.   Cheers!