Anis Crofts
Originally from NY, I studied Fine Art at LaGuardia High School, went on to study at Pratt Institute and finally ended up in a decade long apprenticeship with master realist Benjamin F. Long IV, student of Pietro Annigoni and Frank Mason. I acquired a strong solid foundation in drawing, a great respect for history and theory, and a studied approach to draftsmanship, painting and grisaille. I work entirely from life in natural north light and en plein aire. I was taught to revere my materials and consider each part of the creative process important. Carefully contemplating all the steps, before, during and after as part of the experience.
My teacher Ben Long engrains in his students a steadfast approach to observation and an unbridled dedication to creating art under any circumstance. He follows the teaching that drawing is the foundation of painting and is a firm advocate of the spontaneous sketch. Although I spend a great deal of time working in my studio, I also have a great respect and passion for drawing and painting in the field. I have painted in 10 countries including Ghana, Ecuador and all over Europe. I have spent months at a time traveling in Italy and lived abroad in a small village in the South of France for over 2 years.
The truth and its clarity speak an undeniable statement. Creating art is like the process of living; an investigation, a thorough searching, and a process of orientation, organization, and enrichment. The process of finding relation in objects that are seemingly different or showing variance in things that one assumes are the same. The moment represented in a still life, is really representational of all time. Proof that singular, revelatory moments occur infinitum. A gaze out the window and a lone apple on a white cloth say the same thing.
When I see a glimpse of this in things, places, people, I try and notice its reflection in other objects or situations. I sit with it and develop a dialogue long before I begin to paint. When I discover it, I make mental slips of paper and mark pages and revisit past experiences. I make connections and then I tell the story as best I can, translated from all this research. I am creating a form of visual language. A language to express when I see something that shows strength, weakness or sympathy. I search for commonality and connection and for concise one-word statements or short visual passages to express my understanding, excluding personal clamor, aiming for the perfect amount of quiet or noise to convey the subtle concepts being spoken.
Art begins when I wake up each day. The connection I make with my materials is often times as important as the connection I make with my subject. I believe that the history of these methods is the foundation of everything I make, like my ancestors or my dialect. As if I carry with me every teacher I have ever had, and every teacher they have ever had, and so on. I paint in oil and draw with a multitude of materials including graphite, silverpoint, etching, conte and pen & ink. My work represents an aesthetic balance between traditional and contemporary realism that I find specifically definitive of our time.
The ultimate aim of my work as a draftsman and a painter is to express my feelings and observations about humanity in a way that is clear and vulnerable. To solidify my personal revelations and to appreciate the details, the people, and the things that go unnoticed and speak about their depth and importance. Most importantly, to continue to effortlessly learn and comment; to contribute and engage; to search for beauty and translates that as visual prose.
Impact from Helene: Helene took my main sources of income, disrupted work that I was in the midst of doing and left me in a state of trauma both financially and emotionally that thrust me into survival mode. I put down everything I was doing and have been attending to the needs of my daughter, my family, friends and community unable to access the mental peace that was the source of my inspiration.I have damage to my house, to my land, to my business, and my days are filled with filling out forms, stabilizing my family in the wake, hauling water and waiting in lines to shower and do laundry. I long for the palace of peace, grounding and creativity that I once lived in. I long to sit in my studio and draw flowers and ferns and look deep into the eyes of people that I admire.
The ask: I need funds to recover financially. I have giclee prints to sell and I would love to send art into the world again.
Direct donations: @anis-crofts