Ann S. Adams redefines the value of peripheral vision and experience by transforming and placing nature’s ephemeral gems of a garden at the center of our focus. Her perspective is only one of the many facets revealing a talent capable of giving us pause to ponder the woven dimensions of visual harmony found in light and colour. In these works, we enter into her garden, which serves as a spiritual metaphor for life and sustenance: The nourishment of soul found along the path of the present and dreams of future.

            Adams’ inspiration celebrates growth and transformation along side the unexpected discoveries and serendipitous glee that follows. Such treasures are not so rare, but, it takes one like Ann to recognize such sights. She observes light’s reflections, bouncing off rippling water, casting pure light into the shadows of her garden’s layered canopies, resulting in nature’s own  light shows of intense colour.

            Often, Ann creates single works composed of multiple segments: Triptychs or framed grids arranged in a perspective that is uniquely hers. These pieces provide the opportunity to study each segment in detail, which from a distance reveal a flow uniting the group as a single composition. She garners great respect in her ability to visualize and orchestrate these subjects while maintaining the structural integrity and visual unity of these complex groupings. Ann reminds us that as in nature, nothing exists alone and that ultimately, individual experience is defined by the space and time shared with others.

            Throughout Ann’s imagery of flora and water, she provides gentle guidance to reawaken introspective thoughts of experience along the garden’s path: a world in which we serve as participants and observant stewards. And, if one is inclined to search a greater insight into this artist’s aesthetic, consider her sense of discipline as applied not only to the visual arts, but as a musician. She understands the dimension of colour and applies it with the clarity of the musical scale. It can be said, Ann’s ability to observe, compose and translate tonal values is a natural talent but, too, it might be understood that these combined facets have evolved out of an innate spiritual sensibility and intuition, all of which contribute to the foundation of her works.

             Ann opens the coffers of the mind’s eye to engage and ignite the imagination. Thus, it is not unusual to find ourselves immersed in her works, which evoke a calm repose while abstractly depicting the complexity of life and the comfort found in the balance of meaningful relationships. Masterfully, Ann S. Adams employs the counterpoints of layered patterns and contrasting colours to create images illuminating the viewer’s path in a garden of delight. It is her use of colour that captures our attention but, it is her composition and spatial play that holds it. Skillfully and delicately Ann redefines scale to draw us in, and guide us along the road of her vision and experience. It is a trek into a world, a kaleidoscope that ignites the imagination like the rose windows of Rheims and Chartres.

 Stephen Vollmer

Aesthetic & Technique

             Ann S, Adams savors the ever changing environment of her garden: From the morning hours to the evening and from one day to the next, each is a part of a cycle measured by the changing of seasons. With a keen eye, she adeptly observes the transient quality contained in shifting light, capturing its ebb and flow like the fluidity found in water. Skillfully, she suspends the transience of time to provide us with introspective moments to contemplate the basic if not primal elements known to sustain life and give rise to colour.

            Be it morning dew refreshing layered canopies of new growth or the scent of oncoming rain in the summer breeze, Ann recognizes subtle and abrupt changes impacting balance of the garden and, the spirit within. Sensitive to such moments, she isolates and creates apertures: Silhouettes of opaque and translucent flora, integrated with the transparency of water and sky, each of which defines Ann’s innate ability to capture the splendor of ever changing qualities found in the spectrum of light.

            As with the best and most innovative artist of every era, Ann draws upon and combines both traditional and contemporary techniques and mediums. In so doing, she considers not only the scale of each works but, its long term stability that will allow generations ahead to share in the enjoyment of what we see today. She employs only the highest grade of materials in papers, pastels and inks to insure the future of every work. As Ann, explores her garden, she employing the camera to extract and preserve given moments and impressions to create studies and the ground of many pieces. These initial experiences are reflected upon over extended periods, during which time, she extracts the impression of the moment that provides the impact of her experience in the garden.

            Going through multiple phases of development, the preliminary drawings and images are refined into compositions that may stand alone, or worked into groups to reveal her aesthetic that explores light and the transience of moment. Ann’s celebration of nature’s flora, growth goes well beyond the expectations of traditional botanicals: Through combining digital technology with the age old techniques of pastels, she transforms the print medium into an experience that takes us beyond and into a world of colour and composition that rivals Flemish masters of centuries past. Well grounded in the compositions and elements of Matisse, Monet and Albers, she provides a new fresh perspective of nature, of color and our ability to see.  

            Ann’s visual play is not limited to the spatial plane of paper. When we read the titles given to many of her works, she reveals a wit and a wry sense of humor that makes use of double entendre. She encourages us to engage in dialogue by invoking greater curiosity and questions surrounding the experience. Read into each title what you may with the understanding that there is much that resides below the surface. Once again, Ann has planted the seed of the imagination within each of us.