Annie Kinney Villa "Currituck Lighthouse”

My painting has been influenced by my love of the outdoors! I grew up along the western seacoast of Ireland, marooned in an area called the Burren, a place where the ancient rocks have secret conversations with the ocean. After some traveling in my twenties, I ended up in North Carolina and fell in love with its beautiful seasonal weather, pristine beaches and rugged mountains. From painting on occasion, I made the transition to painting full time during the pandemic. I am primarily self taught, and I continue to explore the creative process by taking workshops and connecting with other artists.

As a contemporary representational artist with an impressionistic style, Annie's intent is to create art that is fresh and vibrant. Her zest to paint is fed by the places she knows and loves. These are places she often returns to again and again. Annie's strong connection to the environments that she paints influences her compositions. In simplifying the composition and not being overly explicit, her intent is to capture the effects of light, movement, mood and space in the landscape using value relationships and color.

Annie's goal for each painting is to create a visual dialogue of opposing elements and to create a narrative within the two-dimensional space. Annie's landscape paintings are created using direct observation in plein air, photos and videos. Her memory of a place helps guide the painting verses a literal rendition of a scene. Annie's growth comes from her natural curiosity and interaction with the landscape.