Emerging Artists | Ann Kraft Walker

For the love of beauty

Ann Kraft Walker, Never Fails, oil, 12 x 14.

This story was featured in the December 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2013 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story!

For Ann Kraft Walker, 2013 has been a busy year. The Texas-based artist has participated in more than 10 separate shows and won a number of top awards at prestigious events, such as Salon International at Greenhouse Gallery, the Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition, and a recent Portrait Society of America show. This fall her figurative painting NEVER FAILS was juried into the OPA Western Regional Exhibition held at Southwind Art Gallery in Topeka, KS.

Walker has been interested in art since a fourth-grade teacher praised her work and said that she should consider being an artist someday. She eventually did think seriously about studying fine art in college. But at the time, the various programs she considered focused on abstract expressionism, the current fad. Instead she opted to earn a bachelor of fine art in art history from the University of Texas at Austin. Eventually she began to create what she calls “primitive folk art” because of her passion for antiques. Today she indulges her love of antiques by incorporating them into her classic still-life works.

Ann Kraft Walker, Four Months at Sea, oil, 16 x 18.

These days she is drawn to both the figurative and still-life genres. In NEVER FAILS she captures an ordinary but intimate moment one day not long ago when she was talking with her daughter. “I am always inspired by the amazing person she is,” Walker says. “She had written phrases out of the Bible on her blackboard wall by her bed, and I was astounded at how beautiful and meaningful that scene was.”

No matter the subject, the fundamental reason Walker paints something is because it evokes beauty. “I often wake with an idea that excites me, or I am struck all at once with the beauty of an object, or I will have a strong emotional response that washes over me,” Walker says. “I believe that all my inspiration is a God-given gift.” —Bonnie Gangelhoff

representation
InSight Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX; annkraftwalker.fineartstudioonline.com.

Featured in the December 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art December 2013 print issue or digital download Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!