Ann Wallace’s Biography
After working as a criminal attorney for the United States Department of Justice, Ann Wallace pursued art as a student at the Yellow Barn Studio in Glen Echo, Maryland, the Art League in Alexandria, Virginia and the Art Students League in New York City. She became a Yellow Barn Instructor teaching drawing and painting with oils, acrylics, gouache, and pastels, and continues to teach painting on zoom and in person classes. She is also a master art copyist at the National Gallery of Art.
In addition to having numerous solo shows, Ann also exhibits at the Art League in Virginia, and at the Artists in Middleburg Gallery, where she has received numerous awards for her pastel , oil and gouache paintings. Her paintings and prints are in private collections throughout the country and on permanent exhibition in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the United States Department of Justice.
Ann paints immediately or directly—“au premier coup” (at first stroke) or “alla prima”(at first attempt). When approaching still life paintings, she believes that the selection and arrangement of objects reveal the presence of the artist. In her portraits, she attempts to go beyond the likeness and focuses on the perceived character of the individual. And, when she is out in nature, she tries to capture the essence of the place—the movement of the sky and water; the character of the rocks, land and trees; the intensity of the colors; and the transience of the light. She believes that a painting should not serve simply to showcase the technical prowess of the painter, but instead should allow the viewer to be an integral participant in the realization of the artist’s vision. Her work can be viewed at www.annwallaceart.com
