Anne Embree

"I use variations of the animal form to give my paintings composition and structure as well as universal meaning. Animals represent unconditional love to me. They do not judge, criticize, or try to change us, but instead accept us for who we are. They provide a link between ourselves and the universe, reminding us of our oneness with nature, guiding us to spiritual awareness. I connect personally with the animals I paint and each of them becomes my friend, much the same way horses, dogs, and other creatures were my friends as a child and my reason for survival. I see a connection between the way I paint, layering and overlapping, and nature. I paint in oil on paper, building surfaces, then scraping back through them. Textures develop through this process that are rich and complex, while the color remains bright and purely intuitive. Thus, the shapes of the animals, colors, and textures are integrated with systematic alteration between chance and order that is as emotional and instinctive as my relationship to the universe."