"Living in a country that cherishes past and present, my major focus has become creating that juxtaposition in my subject matter. Into that mix, I am now adding the element of tributes to influencing factors in my life. Always, we rest on the shoulders of those masters who came before us."
"In 1970, my instructor at the El Paso Art Academy put a black wax pencil in my hand and my path in art was decided. My light touch and patience married perfectly with the medium, and the works I created were well received, winning awards starting with the first exhibition I entered. After 20 years of drawing, selling, exhibiting, and teaching private lessons, I finally discovered the traditional oil painting method I had been seeking. Given my extensive art background, I quickly picked up the methods at the Schuler School of Fine Art in Baltimore. As with the Colored Pencil, this traditional handling of the materials inspired the same instinctive connection and subsequent recognition starting with my first painting.
Despite the tight realism, many of my pieces are not actual reproductions of anything I’ve seen, but rather a composite of various images I’ve taken over the years, augmented with sketches and imagination. Often, I deliberately flatten and slightly distort perspective, as did the old masters, to create a composition more pleasing to the eye. Everything is created freehand with no mechanical or reproductive means. Among the honors my work has received are numerous national and international awards including 18 in New York and London group exhibitions. In 2004, The Art Renewal Center chose me among their initial 34 artists selected for The Living Masters Gallery in their online museum dedicated to traditional and realist art. I and/or my work have been published in 24 magazines and 37 books”
Ann James Massey (b.1951, USA) is, among others, a member of The Society of Women Artists UK, American Artists Professional League (Fellow Maxima Cum Laude), Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, Colored Pencil Society of America (Charter and Signature Member); United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society (Charter and Silver Member, President/Honorary President 2004 to 2010) and Mensa. Massey owned and operated The Montwood Gallery in El Paso, TX from 1974 to 1978 and Massey Fine Arts in Santa Teresa, NM from 1992 to 1994. Her studio is currently based in Paris, France.
