Annie L. Ferder's fascination with art began at an early age. In fact, she can't remember when she didn't draw. While other girls were playing with dolls, Annie was drawing flowers, birds and bugs. She grew up in the Willamette Valley, an area rich in rainfall with mild winters. The valley flooded every year to provide the fertile soil that enabled the Native Americans and the following settlers to grow their sustaining crops. From this verdant valley, Annie found her first subjects. She was strongly influenced by her family's gardens and farmlands. Even today, garden clubs come to see her mother's beautifully landscaped European style gardens. From these beginnings grew the pursuit of her artistic education, including every artistic medium from life drawing to stone sculpture.
Working in a style of lush realism, Annie paints in tones so vibrant that one actually seems to be transported into the garden. She juxtaposes contrasting hues and shadows to dramatically portray botanical symmetry. Her paintings are composed from the thousands of photographs she has taken over the years. Photographs are like primary sketches for her, she may use only one or as many as twenty to compose a painting. While her paintings are painstakingly thought out and executed, she views them not as "works" but as labors of love, rekindling a sense of vocation.
In Central Oregon, where the high desert touches the Cascade Mountains, her art is a way of uniting herself to life and spirituality. Her botanical creations reflect the spirituality inherent in nature that transcends cultural boundaries. Annie communicates this to us through the medium, which enables us to share her perspective. She says, "When I paint, I create the sense of peace and harmony I felt as a child in my grandfather's garden."
Annie's art has been exhibited since 1970 and is currently shown in Florida, Arizona and throughout the state of Oregon.
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