Biography:

Anita's educational background is a B.F.A. from the Cleveland Institute of Art in Enameling with a Painting minor and Masters of Art Education from Case Western Reserve in Ohio. She is living in the Madison, Wisconsin area with artist-husband Mark A. Nelson, three cats; Zoey, Zeeke, and Zog and their arch rival ZuZu the wonder dog. Currently, she is working on a series of acrylic paintings in her home based studio.

After teaching high school art at Cleveland Central Catholic and Grand Valley H.S. in Ohio, she entered into the world of free-lance illustration for over 20 yrs. Working for several publishers and a variety of businesses gave her the opportunity to work in a variety of media and subject matter. She dealt mainly with children's trade and text book illustrations for Scott Foreman Publishers, D.C. Health, Harper-Collins, Cricket Magazine, Publications International, Wilton Corp. and others. Her studio at this time was based in the Dekalb, Illinois area, whereher husband taught at Northern Illinois University.

Artist Statement:

In 2004, after many years as a free lance illustrator, I decided to rediscover my artistic roots and paint what I love. This is not art for art's sake, it's art for the artist's sake.

My work is more involved with whimsical images and the creation of childhood memories. Using a range of materials in old master" and "contemporary" approaches to create my images, they always show my love of animals. Oil paints, acrylic paints, colored pencil, ink, make-up the majority of the materials that I have worked with. In the last couple of years my primary focus is using acrylics on composite board, clay board, or cold press watercolor board.

My philosophy about what I do involves wanting the viewer to create their own story about what they see. The art should be used as a "visual bookmark" for remembering not where one has stopped but where one continues or the place in the visual story you revisit. I always hope to create a feeling or sense of mystery. If there is a mystery to be solved, I do not want to be the one to solve it. The viewer should be part of the process. I am not the only creator in the process of the art. Part of the creative process, I hope, continues and evolves as the viewer takes on the role and participates in that process.

The reason for what I do as an artist involves the 3 -"To's : To Learn, To Grow, To Foster."
This provides me with the desire to continue as a image maker.

Galleries:

Longbranch Gallery (www.longbranchgallery.com)

Grace Chosy Gallery (www.gracechosygallery.com)