Welcome to My Portfolio

I am an artist/photographer working in the Santa Barbara California area. I decided to use the name Anise because there are a large number of people in the world who have the exact same first, middle, and last, name as I have, including several other artists and photographers as well as a California state congress woman. So, that means the domain name was already taken. Anise is more unique and also happens to be one of my favorite herbs.

I like to do a variety of different things including; photography, digital painting, vector art, photo collages, graphic design, drawing with pencil or charcoal, oil painting, sewing and what ever I feel inspired to do. I have recently graduated from Santa Barbara City College with an Associates Degree in Graphic Design. As far as my painting, drawing and sewing, I will be adding a sub page for that at a later time. I have much grander plans for the future of this website and my artistic endeavors than what there is right now.

My Artist Statement

I create art because I enjoy doing it. The process of making art gives me pleasure and purpose, it serves to balance and ground me. It makes me feel good. My artwork and designs are inspired by what I see in the world around me, it could be anything from a lizard on the doorstep to an interesting architectural element or a beautiful mountain scene to Robbie the Robot. At other times it may be inspired by a medium such as embroidery and fabric. Some times I will dream of a concept or an image for a drawing or painting. As Vincent van Gogh once wrote, "I dream my painting and I paint my dream."

When it comes to the content or context of my artworks: Sometimes a bowl of fruit is just a bowl of fruit. To paraphrase Isaac Asimov in his short story, The Evitable Conflict; my art admits of no explanation. My artwork has no political, social or moral agenda or message. A philosophy, which I believe, allows me to be more open and flexible and not overly serious about my art.

My current influences are the storybook like photomontages with rich jewel tones and textures of Maggie Taylor; the straightforward perspectives and American gothic style of oil painting created by Grant Wood; Rene Magritte's play-full surrealism and Karl Blossfeldt's sharply detailed black and white photogravures of plant specimens. These artists have inspired me to create several photomontages such as a turnip floating over farmland, a lamp with an avocado as the light bulb and detailed charcoal drawings. I like a wide range of styles including art deco, art nouveau, arts and crafts, realism, surrealism, impressionism and American gothic. My own style is generally what I like to refer to as realistic impressionism. I most enjoy creating still lives, montages and images of scenery. The mediums I like to use oil paints, charcoal, graphite, and pastels, photography and digital.

As a Graphic designer I enjoy combining my fine art skills with technology to create original designs that are balanced, honest and visually pleasing. My designs are defined by the context and message or content. I use various methods, tools and software to create designs and design concepts. Many times I use the traditional and accepted methodology of starting with a word map and thumbnail sketches. But, occasionally, I will just "wing it" by starting with a product, an image or phrase and seeing where it will take me.