Ann Bissonette

Painting is a way I can capture a moment in time, jog a memory, tell a story, convey a mood, or bring a smile and share it with others.

The scenes that Ann paints are not ones she so much chooses as they are ones that choose her. She often finds herself drawn to a place knowing “there is something there” that may take minutes, seasons or years before she finds whatever it is that calls her. If when she’s driving she yells out “that’s IT!” her dogs know to get a grip because she’s slamming on the brakes, and the tripod, camera, little golf stool, and sketch book and plastic bag of pencils will all be coming out.

Ann likes pictures that invite the viewer to step into it-smell the flowers, feel the wind and sun on your face, rock with the waves, shade your eyes for a better view. Or, scenes in which she sees some irony or symbolism, or one in which there is a small story lurking. She likes to incorporate some action, either real or implied in each painting, too; a pendulum in movement, eddies of water from a rower’s oars, a breeze ruffling a flag. What keeps her awake some nights is figuring out how to convey that with paint, asking herself how to focus the idea, point the viewer to what she wants them to see and give them something more than the image of a pretty picture to walk away with.