Ann S. Adams
"To appreciate the beauty of creation is to feel the closeness of the Creator "
Ann S. Adams savors the ever changing environment of her garden: from the morning hours of each day to twilight of the next, each is a part in a measured cycle of changing seasons. With a keen eye, she adeptly observes the transient quality found in shifting light, capturing its ebb and flow as reflected in water. Skillfully, she suspends the transience of time, providing us with introspective moments to contemplate the basic if not primal elements known to sustain life.
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 work 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 employs the camera to extract and preserve given moments and impressions to create studies and the ground for many pieces. These initial experiences are reflected upon over extended periods, during which time, she extracts the essence of the moment that provides an insight to her experience in the garden.
Going through multiple phases of development, Ann S. Adams' drawings and images are refined compositions that stand alone; or as groups they reveal her aesthetic, which explores light and the transience of moment. Ann’s celebration of nature’s flora and 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 fresh perspective of nature, colour 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 the dialogue by invoking our curiosity and questions surrounding the experience. Read into each title what you may with the understanding that there is much more residing below the surface. Once again, Ann has planted the seed of the imagination within each of us. Stephen Vollmer