The prolific painting career of Annie Horkan began at the University of Virginia after twice failing her calculus exam for a major in Environmental Science. In search of a new major, she wandered over to the Art Department, sat in on a watercolor class, picked up a brush and has never put it down. Although her art career was put on hold to raise two sons, Annie continued to paint, completing over seventy paintings before her firstborn was a year old. As her children grew, Annie began to exhibit colorfully resplendent acrylic paintings while maintaining a part-time career as a professional tennis instructor. In 1992, after returning to the exquisite countryside of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the artist began to paint full time. It was here that she named her studio after discovering her farm was once a small community called “Bliss.” Her pursuits led her in 1995 to New York’s Art Expo as a solo exhibitor for Studio Bliss. Later in the same year, Annie opened her first art gallery where she exhibited her own work, and represented the work of other local artists.
Based in New Mexico’s awe-inspiring Land of Enchantment from 1996 to 2012, Annie continued to “follow her bliss,” creating luminous and rejoicing paintings compelled by her love for color and beauty. Her illuminating images range from garden floral, tropical seas, Appalachian landscapes and charming interiors to the pastoral landscapes of Tuscany, the expansive desert of the Southwest and visionary explorations. She maintains a passion for her travels which imbue her with new and fresh vision with which to paint. Her most recent work includes two series of paintings inspired from dreams and her inner journeys, and her devotion to the sacred feminine. Annie has participated in numerous one woman and group shows throughout the country and abroad. All of her original paintings are now available as fine art Giclée prints. She personally collaborates in their production with her printer to assure the highest quality.
Currently, she is living in Vero Beach, Florida where she is writing, taking a new adventure in painting and marketing her painted rugs called floorcloths. ” My love for color is an obsession,” says the artist. “It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. Sometimes I dream about color combinations, and I can’t wait to get my brush in hand. Painting is a journey, and the creative process keeps me mindful and connected to the unseen force within all the beauty that surrounds us.”
EXHIBITS
2011 Group Show, Due West Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2011 Group Show, La Tienda Exhibit Space, “ Over El Dorado”, Santa Fe, NM
2008 Clouds Studio, Opening group show, Madrid, NM
2008 Group show, Amsterdam Whitney Fine Art Gallery, New York City
2006 “There and Back”, one woman show, Gallery A at Alex Gallery, Washington, DC
2006 “Emergence”, joint show, Gallery 222, Leesburg, VA
2003 “Surrealism Unbound”, Ward-Nasse Chelsea Gallery, NYC
2000 Opening exhibit, Bliss Studio, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1999 Summer Show, Trading Post Café, Taos, New Mexico
1997 Group show: “Works by Annie Horkan, Tom Noble and Kyle Morgan”, Bliss Studio, Taos, New Mexico
1997 Opening exhibit, Bliss Studio, Taos, New Mexico
1997 Santa Fe Furniture Expo, Paintings and Floorcloths
1996 “Tuscany, Tobago and Venezuela”, Bliss Studio, Marshall, Virginia
1995 Opening exhibit, Bliss Studio, Marshall, Virginia
1995 New York Art Expo, NYC, solo exhibitor for Bliss Studio
1995 One woman show, “Ann Mari’s Garden”, Blue Ridge Arts Council, Front Royal, Virginia
1994 Group show, “New Artists”, Venable Neslage Galleries, Washington,DC
1993 Group show, “Saving the Environment”, Universal North Gallery, Washington,DC
1988 Group show, Habitat Realty, Washington,DC
1988 One woman show, “Mexico” and other paintings, The Abbott Gallery, McLean, Virginia
1986 One woman show, National Institutes of Health Clinical Gallery, Bethesda, Maryland
1984 Group show, International Center for Contemporary Art, Paris, France
1978 “First Pictures”, The Open End Gallery, Middleburg, Virginia
1977 Group show, The Banff Fine Arts Centre Gallery, Alberta, Canada
1977 Group show, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
PUBLICATIONS
The New Mexico Millenium Collection, 2000
The Collectors Guide, 2001, 2002, 2007-08
Living Artists- ArtFolio, 2002, 2005
American Art Collector, 2007, 2008, 2009
Natural Awakenings Magazine, cover artist, 2004, 2005
Art Acquisitor, 2008
Pathways Magazine, cover artist, 2010, 2011, 2014