ANNIE DARLING

Annie Darling is contemporary abstract painter. Influenced by mid-century modern esthetics, the natural world, and the human form, Annie’s work is varied and complex. Her bold, colorful, geometric paintings are structured, precise and detailed, while her abstract landscape works are moody, textural worlds that leave room for the imagination to roam. Her appreciation for the curvilinear human form is felt viscerally in her soft, sensual works of art. 

As an artist who is inspired by the tactile nature of the world—and the organic nature of creation itself—movement, change, and discovery are all concepts deeply imbedded in her work.

Annie was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up surrounded by creators. Her family, comprised of painters, sculptors, printmakers, photographers, designers, actors and musicians, all had an effect on her artistic journey. Because art was always present in her life, the creative process, and the idea of discovering ones self though it, was rooted in her at an early age. 

Annie’s artistic practice is all about working in the moment, and in-flow. Her process is best described as one of “inquiry and discovery” where she asks and responds to questions, obstacles, and opportunities that arise in each work of art during its creation.

Annie studied fine art, graphic design and industrial technology, at the University of Oregon and the University of Southern Maine where she graduated with a B.A. in Communications. After graduating she embarked on a creative journey which included owning an award-winning graphic design firm, owning a successful art-based stationery company, and of course, creating and developing her expanding body of work. Annie’s mixed medial paintings can be found in public, private, and corporate collections world-wide.

THE ENCAUSTIC PROCESS

The encaustic medium fascinates me. While many artists choose traditional methods of painting with the wax, I am curious about what else the medium can do and I spend much of my time exploring unconventional methodologies beyond the scope of typical creative techniques. My creative process involves painting on large wood panels that require me to continually move around them. As my body travels around the painting—dripping, ironing, and fusing the pigmented wax into place—I am constantly assessing the state of the composition: the relationship of each element to one another, color, hue and saturation, detail in the mark-making and properties of each layer; adjusting as necessary. It is an intimate conversation between me and the work, where each layer—every element—informs the next. The result is a work of art so unique and  intricate it can never be recreated. 

As a child I was immersed in the visual arts: my father was a commercial photographer, my mother an interior designer, my uncle a sculptor, and my cousins: print makers, writers, musicians. My interest in art was fueled by their work, as well as frequent visits to the museums and galleries of Chicago where I was drawn to contemporary art. 

Each time I returned home from a museum outing—filled with passion—I would paint or draw my own interpretation of the images that inspired me. Even the tactile experience of the mediums excited me. When I started drawing in colored pencil, I loved the feeling of the pencil etching its way down the paper. When I began painting, I felt a similar energy as the brush stroked the canvas. In my encaustic work, I find pleasure in the feel of the iron as it glides over the hot wax; and I appreciate the second tactile experience of the finished product.