‘When I Last Saw You’ by Ann E. Coulter.
Ann E. Coulter has been a friend for more than four decades — and one of the artists who we have had the privilege of having in our collection. Her talent and artwork have enriched us personally and have set an expectation for other artists in our community to strive towards in their efforts to create art.
JOHN HEINTZMAN
Landscape painting in the American tradition depicts the scenery of the natural world with views that impact the artist’s eye. In an effort to represent the beauty that meets the eye, the artist tries to capture that fleeting moment in time and space.
In the early decades of the eighteenth century, landscape artists created work that was pure and realistic, particularly in the Hudson Valley.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “In the woods, it is perpetual youth.” As a Midwestern landscape artist, Coulter has captured a fresh, new interpretation of nature and all it has to offer. These paintings come to represent a quiet, calm, and safe area that halts the viewer and gives them cause for reflection.
“My studio practice focuses on the landscape in which I live.” Coulter explains. “Though its subtle beauty is often overlooked, the Midwestern landscape provides me with a generous conduit to a deeper understanding of what it means to be present in the world. The feeling of the ground beneath my feet, the space of the wide-open sky, the continual shifts in season, weather, and light help define a sense of place that intrigues and beckons, offering opportunities to explore connections and investigate the relationships with nature, with this place I call home.
“In my work, I’m striving towards something singular and evocative, thoughtfully observed and carefully described,” she continued “I’m fascinated by the endlessness of nature’s complex and layered detail; I want to understand how it all fits together to inform a specific place and time. I’m interested in creating a sense of what it is like to be immersed in nature, to not only see it but to feel it, to know it, to dig deep enough to realize its potential, and understand its history and its place in our lives. My paintings and drawings are an attempt to empower the local landscape, giving voice to its beauty and significance, coaxing it to resonate and reveal all the life that it holds.”
Both large and small works center on a place that is both familiar and fond to all of us. Much art, especially painting, is a pursuit that engages the viewer to process and transport them to the unknown. Coulter has constructed a narrative that brings the viewer in, and shares experiences that truly activate the work and one’s imagination. Her paintings remind us of a time and place that is familiar to many and focus on nature’s secluded beauty.
‘Summer Trees’ by Ann E. Coulter.
Andrew Wyeth established a new approach to regionalism. At first, his work was thought of as photographic until it was realized how interpretive he was. Coulter’s paintings are such authentic and accurate depictions of a place that is real as well as dear to her that many also view them as photographs.
.VIsitor Downstream’ by Ann E. Coulter.
For decades, Coulter created successful landscapes on paper using pastel. After decades of drawing, she set aside her pastels for oil paint. Through that succession, she used her deft touch of applying crayon to paper to the brushstrokes of paint on canvas. The surface is now defined by fine, free natural strokes that build a stand of young trees arranged carefully to create personal meadows that are welcomed by each of us exploring her world.
Some artists want to replicate or represent the obvious natural beauty of landscapes. Some delve deeper into exploring the aesthetic elements of light, color, and texture. Others use scenes of nature to illustrate or conceptualize a metaphor. With the orchestrated intention of all of these, Coulter explores intimate, secluded areas of nature by allowing us to share in a committed space familiar to her.
Through a unique sense of natural architecture, Coulter’s oil paintings depict nature’s trees, trunks, and branches to build the space from simple and open to the complex. Limbs crossing, leaves and twigs entwined — each of these combined with the breadth of a natural palette — all of which finds us seeking solace there. As a result, she has created a bare, honest trust between artist and viewer.
Her work has become a family obsession. Our sister’s collection includes two major paintings, two pastel drawings, and a print. Living with these landscapes provides us with a glimpse of nature, a breath of fresh air, and a moment of solace daily.
Portfolio 24
Ann participated in our [P24] Portfolio 24, marking the first time she had attempted a printmaking process with the guidance of Master Printer Angela Risinger. Her print imagined a trodden patch with twigs, leaves, and dainty flowers, small but intimate and engaging.
Coulter reflected, “The subject I chose to use for the project came from the same source as my paintings, but evolved into something quite different and unexpected during the process of making my print. I think a lot about deconstruction and reconstruction as I build my nature-based paintings, so I was fascinated to witness the dismantling and reassembling of my image during the multi-stage printing process. The end result was surprising in the most wonderful way. Making this print allowed me to expand my way of thinking about my subject, which, for me, was one of the primary goals of the project.” Ann’s print came to represent the ideal for [P24].
“Ann E. Coulter: Selections from the Heintzman Family Collection” is in the Project Space Gallery at the Peoria Art Guild through November. The PAG galleries there are free and open to the public.