Santa Fe Artist, Annie Horkan
I grew up on a farm in the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. I attended the University of Virginia where I was an Environmental Science major. But half way through my junior year, I flunked calculus, a requirement for my major, for the second time. When I got my failed exam paper back, I walked to the front of the class and tore it into pieces, and dropped it in the trash. The whole class clapped and celebrated my surrender. In my frustration, I wandered over to the art department to seek consolation from a friend. I sat in on her watercolor class, picked up a brush and started doodling while desparately explaining my need for a new major. The art teacher was moving throughout the class talking, stopped next to me, picked up the paper with my doodles on it and explained to the class that this was what he was looking for. I was shocked…and elated to have found my new major. I am not sure I can say that I chose the art path. It feels right to say that the artist way chose me.
I picked up a brush that day in 1976, and I have never put it down. I fell in love with painting, and developed a deep passion for color. It is this passionate love affair with color that speaks to me, that creates magic, that moves me and compels me to paint. My entire life is infused with color, from the colors that I wear to the colors on my walls to the colors in my dreams that find their way to the canvas. I study Nature, and whatever environment I find myself in, with deep intent…and always color speaks to me. It is the creative excitement of colors talking, expressing, moving, playing and dancing together that keeps that brush in my hand.
My subject matter was primarily external until a life-changing trip to Peru in 2001 altered my focus more inward. My painting style changed from light, whimsical works in acrylic on paper to more serious, sophisticated content on canvas using waterbased oils. My painting became the expression and reflection of my inner spiritual path and growth. Much of my new work reflects my passion for the Sacred Feminine, the energy and understanding of which I believe has been lost both inside and outside ourselves. I believe many artists are endowed as visionaries of the future. For myself, I am moved to paint visions that may help bring healing to our world and our planet. I seek to paint the beauty of the simple joys and the complex depths of both the external and internal landscapes. It is the journey towards Sacred Union, not separation, that inspires me to grow, and to paint from the depths of my heart and soul.
Annie Horkan