GUEST EXHIBIT:
Ann McMillan
Selected recent works

About the artist

Central Coast artist Ann McMillan began oil painting in 1997 after studying drawing, science illustration and watercolor painting since childhood. After graduating from University of California, Santa Cruz as a biologist in 1997, Ann discovered her love for plein air painting while working as a field researcher in the Sierra Nevada.

Ann studies the interaction of light and color in the tradition of California Impressionism. Her recent work emphasizes the intensity and subtlety of sun and shadow. Training with Jove Wang and Barry Raybould has taught her to organize her painting around solid design and carefully mixed color. Ann always looks for strong and unusual compositions and color combinations. She tries to create art that reflects the vibrancy of nature and her love of close observation of the landscape.

She most enjoys painting the Central Coast, the Sierra Nevada, Big Sur and the San Francisco Bay estuaries. Her work is exhibited at the William Lester Gallery, The Studio in Burlingame and the Epperson Gallery.

The following words were written by Linda Jack who is a long time friend of Ann’s and of Rods and Cones:

I have long been a fan of Ann McMillan and a collector of her work. Three years ago I invited Ann to help commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences by painting at the Center's beautiful hilltop location overlooking Stanford University and the bay beyond. I imagined a series of plein air paintings that would reflect the seasonal changes of a very special and beautiful place.

After painting on site a number of times Ann took me aside and diplomatically suggested that I entertain another approach. The essence of the Center might, she suggested, be better captured through photography. Although initially disappointed, I took Ann's advice and contacted the Palo Alto Photography Club. Working over a ten-month period, the club's talented members produced a spectacular portfolio of images that far exceeded my expectations.

In their work I saw the types of images that Ann must have seen in her imagination: spectacular cloud formations—far more dramatic in black and white than in color; an alert bobcat staring unwaveringly into the camera; three skeletal oaks barely visible through a break in the fog; a tiny lizard poised for a moment against the lichen on a sun-drenched sandstone wall. Ann had understood, as I had not, that it was in the ever-changing details of the landscape that the essence of this particular place would be captured; and those details were best revealed through photography.

I will be ever grateful to Ann for graciously declining my invitation to paint. Grateful too that she finds inspiration all around her; in mountains and meadows, sloughs and streetscapes, and in back roads and back gardens.

As a young artist, Ann is herself a work in progress. It has been a pleasure to watch her grow. I hope that you enjoy her work.

 

Contact information

Ann McMillan
Mountain View, California
Phone: (650) 438-2752
Email: ann@amgallery.net

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