By Elizabeth McPherson 

Ann is a life-long art lover, wife and mother of four.  Painting exclusively with oils she works from her home studio located in Maplewood, Minnesota.  She describes her paintings as, “Impressionistic Realism,’ meaning more realistic than the master Impressionists like Monet,” tending to use “exaggerated color and vigorous brush strokes" which keep her work from being completely realistic.

Ann studied art at St. Benedict College in Minnesota and graduated with degrees in both art and biology.  Her work in college centered on drawing and biological studies, however, years later she discovered her love for oils in an art class.  Upon discovering a connection between her teacher and her mother, who passed away many years prior, she felt a confirmation in pursuing painting. Ann’s work has been showcased in galleries throughout the Twin Cities and she hosts an annual exhibition in her home.

TCP: What attracted you to painting with oils?
AT: I never considered any other medium than oil paint.  I love the thick buttery texture, the ability to blend wet colors right on the canvas… and also being able to experiment and rework a piece until it is what I want.  I love the fact that this is the medium that so many of the great artists of the past used.

TCP: Do you use your art to express your spirituality? 
AT: Just as praise and worship music glorifies God; my paintings of God’s creation are meant to glorify Him.  Because God chose to bestow upon me the talent of artistic creativity, I feel both humbled and obligated to use these gifts.  As an artist, I have the wonderful good-fortune to see every waking moment as a potential painting-to-be... an opportunity to express to the world the delicacy or complexity, the simplicity or the awesomeness of this world God created for us to live in.

So often, it seems, people are in such a hurry scrambling from one obligation to another, that they fail to recognize all the glorious beauty that surrounds them.  My calling, it appears, is to have the eyes to recognize these gifts from above, and express them on canvas:  the purple shadows as they fall on the snow, the way the distant hills become more and more blue, or the repetition in the farm fields as they unfold before us!

One of my greatest inspirations is Pope John Paul II, himself being an artist of the written word.  In his Letter to Artists, written Easter Sunday 1999, he encourages artists to create so that “the beauty which you pass on to generations still to come be such that it will stir them to wonder!... May your art help to affirm that true beauty which, as a glimmer of the Spirit of God, will transfigure matter, opening the soul to the sense of the eternal.”

What a thrill to be called to such a vocation!

TCP: What do your children think of your job?  Are they interested in the arts?
AT: My children think it is cool that their mom is an artist.  When they were younger, I would go to their school and be the ‘Picture Person’ and they probably thought all the other Moms painted too.  Now that my children are older, I think they recognize what a unique calling I have.  I think it is good for my kids to see their mother pursuing her dream.

TCP: Do you think that Christians can be skeptical of the arts?
AT: I’m not sure.  Certainly they need to be prudent about what arts they pursue, because there is a lot of morally offensive stuff out there.  But finding the music or art or literature that feeds one’s soul is invaluable and can truly be life changing. 

TCP: Do you have a routine or daily time that you set aside for your artwork
AT: Although I’d love to say I spend every day at the easel painting, the truth is that as a wife and mother of four, sometimes the laundry piles up so high I couldn’t possibly feel peaceful enough to paint something amazing.  Or there are errands or doctor appointments. Sometimes I just have business or framing days.  But always, my eyes are open, searching for the next painting.  It seems like my actual painting times come in surges, and when I do paint I generally have several paintings going at once.  When I am actually at that point, painting, in the zone, adrenalin rushing, and inspiration gushing, it is awesome!

TCP: Do you have any ‘how to’ tips for new artists?
AT: My advice to a new artist would be to paint with a mentor who is better than you and learn from their experience; read about and become familiar with other artists; never stop looking at the world through your artistic eyes. Notice the colors, shadows, and variations.  Most of all, paint, paint, paint!   There are no shortcuts and you simply need to put miles of canvas behind you.  Each new painting is an opportunity to grow. 

TCP: What would you like viewers to take away from your work?
AT: Many viewers of my paintings have been moved by the spirituality they sense, whether the image is a landscape, still-life, or whatever.  This to me is confirmation that God is using me as His instrument for evangelization.  For that I feel extremely blessed and so grateful to be an artist.

“Christian Art should draw us to ponder beauty, because beauty brings us joy, causes us to wonder, and invites us to savor life.”

To learn more about this artist, visit: www.anntristani.com

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