Woodstock Artist Profile: Annalysa Kimball

Painting Moments, Capturing History

By Julie Senger

Annalysa Kimball has had an interest in creating art ever since she could grip a crayon. Starting young, she worked as an art teacher, entered shows and contests and took many classes. Eventually deciding that art school was the way to go, she received her BFA from the University of New Mexico and continued on for a MA in Art Therapy from Florida State University.

Annalysa was working as an art therapist in residence at an elementary school when a job as a theatre arts teacher fell into her lap. She loved crossing her skills over into theater design and writing scripts. She states, Suddenly, my personal work began to take on a deeper perspective, which involved more storytelling, documentary elements and even a 3-D perspective.

So what has kept Annalysa engaged with her art and wanting to dive deeper into the subject matter she chooses to portray in her work? I love creating a narrative, capturing a moment in time that anyone can look at and relate to in some way. Either they have a similar memory, or maybe they wish that they did. I like to add a bit of humor, too, so that it makes the viewer look twice and want to talk about it, she says.

What is Annalysas process? While looking at one of my paintings, a dear friend once asked me, how do you see purple in that rock? I tend to paint with windows open to the under layers so that you can see my process. I hate to waste materials, especially paint, so I use any excess from my palate and lay color on the next canvas so that it isnt white when Im ready to use it. I just slap it on there with no plan. When Im ready with an image, I start closing in a sketch with blocks of color. These colors are usually not the correct color, not yet. I may choose a complimentary color or something neonwho knows? At this point Im just looking for a sketch. Once I have an idea of where the image is going, then I start using appropriate color choices. Still leaving windows behind creating a purple rock, Annalysa says, smilingly.

Annalysa was recently contracted to design and produce Downtown Woodstocks new mural, but the mural will also have a strong public participation component. The process for this mural is wonderfully inspiring. The design must be a community collaboration. Weve had a few community gatherings downtown to engage passersby in the process, asking questions like What makes Woodstock unique? and What do you love about our city? Weve received great feedback and honest answers. I take the answers, ideas and memories that have been shared and pay attention to any recurring themes, ideas or emotions. This is what will drive the overall design of the mural, she says, excitedly. Please visit Facebook.com/DowntownWoodstockMural/ to make suggestions for the mural, or visit DowntownWoodstock.org/mural for updates about the project.