DESCRIPTION OF WORK

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“In this crazy world, I come from a point of peace. Since landscapes are where I find my internal peace, that’s what I paint,” says Ann B. Kobdish. “My landscapes are not meant to be ideal places, but rather images that can be contemplated.” Growing up in Texas, Kobdish became enraptured with the expanse of land surrounding her—an appreciation that continues to feed her compositions today. About a decade ago, she began incorporating structures into her settings, which are based on memories, photographs or a blend of the two.

METHOD OF WORK

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Kobdish is an artist brimming with energy. She prefers a variety of canvas sizes and typically works on three compositions at a time, moving back and forth between them to remain spontaneous. Since her paintings consist of multiple layers of transparencies, she initially places a lead oil ground of white on the canvas to give the painting “a nice third dimension.” Once the underpainting is dry, she sketches her concept and begins layering on the color, using oil paint made loose, almost watery, with a mix of turpentine. “This is the real spontaneous part; it’s the fastest part of my painting,” she says. “I’ve never counted how many layers I put down, but I’d expect it’s around 15 to 20 by the time I’m done.”

FIRST ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

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“My mother, grandmother and great-grandmother all loved art,” Kobdish says. “I spent summers at my grandmother’s house that were completely unfettered but had a creative direction. My grandmother and great-grandmother would give my sister, Lyn, and me writing or drawing assignments. During those summers, I would completely lose myself in drawing nature.” Then, toward the end of high school, Kobdish visited Salvador Dalí’s “Living Heart” exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, a show that to this day leaves her breathless when describing it: “It just knocked me off my feet. It was wonderful, mechanical, three-dimensional, had all these moving parts of hearts with precious jewels. It just wowed me. I always have felt that this exhibition has influenced my paintings in a surreal, otherworldly way.”

MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE

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“Burton Callicott, professor emeritus at the Memphis College of Art, was inspirational,” Kobdish says. “He painted landscapes and spiritual pieces.” Kobdish also cites Mark Rothko, Milton Avery and Paul Klee. “It’s a strange combination, I know, but they are wonderful individuals, and I like each one for a different reason. Rothko had such deep contemplative work, and I love his colors. Avery had an unending sense of humor—I adore his chickens. However, I most appreciate his strong sense of where he lived. And Klee was totally uninhibited in his combination of line, shapes and ever-important color.”

BIGGEST BREAK

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Kobdish’s break came when she was a student at the Memphis College of Art. Each year, the school held a Christmas sale. “On the night of the sale, a bell would ring at a certain time and interested buyers would run to their paintings of choice and take them off of the wall,” she says. “That night, I had two pieces in two different parts of the school. I asked my daughters, Sarah, who was 6, and Christina, who was 11, to each stand by one of my paintings and when the bell rang, see if anyone noticed them. Shortly after, both girls ran up to me to report that the same woman had purchased both my paintings. It turned out she was Alice Bingham, a local gallery owner. Later in my senior year, Alice commissioned me to do pieces for the lobby of the Memphis Hyatt Hotel. These instances gave me a wonderful sense of support from both my peers and from the community.”

FAVORITE SUBJECT MATTER

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Kobdish paints modern rural landscapes. They mainly depict Texas, though past series have focused on Canada and the Midwest. Color and design are a priority in her paintings, in which she strives to create snapshots of tranquil worlds. “It is the basic shape of something that tells the story,” she explains. “What is the fundamental element that makes a house a house?” She notes that as she gets older, she becomes more contemplative—“as we all do”—and this evolving philosophy is most evident in her 2003 series aptly titled “Introspection 9” and her current “Introspection 10.”

ONE EXPERT'S OPINION

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“There is a Milton Avery quality about Kobdish’s work in terms of the simplification and interlocking of forms, and the harmonious palette,” says Barbarie Rothstein, a professor of art at Empire State College (Long Island Center), State University of New York. “She creates a mood and atmosphere and a sense of light that transcends the strictly descriptive.”