About anne harkness

Painting light like someone

who has known the dark.

It was in her darkest season that anne found light.

An undiscovered joy in painting

A woman with curly hair, glasses, and a black top smiling, standing with arms crossed against a plain light background.

At 56 years old, Anne quit her job to chase that feeling and pursue art full-time. She leapt—trusting that as the making filled her heart with joy & light, the receiving might usher that same joy & light into the lives of others.

Now an award-winning artist, Anne paints for the lively and for the weary—for those brimming with life, and for those drowning in it.

Her original oil paintings are designed to usher light into even the darkest corners of life.

BE WHO YOU ARE

Inside the Studio: Anne Harkness, Ep. 1

Feature Story by Artist Revelation and Connection

Anne’s

Story

A woman with curly hair standing inside a house near a window, looking at a display board outside during dusk, with trees and a blue sky in the background.

Known for capturing beauty in the unexpected, Anne's paintings showcase

a harmony between the celebrated and the commonplace.

With a background in design, Anne Harkness gravitates towards subjects with a strong graphic image. Town scenes, chairs and telephone poles are among her favorites. From delighting in the curve of a chair’s arm or the interwoven lines of a telephone pole, each piece highlights a joy that is here and available to all who truly seek it.

“I felt such joy when I saw her paintings of telephone poles.

Never before have I even noticed telephone poles, but these have excited and delighted me!” - John Cowie, Patron

_________

Growing up in a family of artists (Harkness’ mother was a painter, her grandmother a sculptor and painter, her dad, an aspiring architect, one brother an architect and a photographer, with her other brother a builder and painter)

Harkness thought a career as an artist wouldn’t generate enough income.

But she adored design, so graphic design was a natural path. An alumnus of The Atlanta College of Art, Harkness earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from The Maryland Institute, College of Art.

But Anne’s mother would keep mentioning

that she should be painting.

____________

Eventually, after a few failed career attempts in an already-traumatic season of her life,

Harkness found herself in the very darkest of places.

Her brother suggested the two of them take an oil painting class from an artist that was renting space in one of his buildings. The two of them did that very thing. Her brother realized he preferred watercolors while Anne became so filled with the joys of oil painting, that she simply couldn’t contain it. Her husband would later say:

“All that had come before

was in preparation for this.”

After 56 years, Anne finally gave herself permission to do what she really wanted to do.

“Letting my creative juices flow gave me great joy!

Well behaved girls stay inside the lines and seldom change the world.

But I am using the lines to my favor and definitely not staying inside them.”

‍ ‍

____________

Today, Anne paints for all—

for those full of life, and for those feeling crushed by it.

Today she paints for you.

FINE ART featured in

Shelves with multiple red Coca-Cola crates stacked, containing glass bottles and cans of soda, next to a red Subiela vending machine.

Project
Coca-Cola Commercial

Year
2016

Close-up of the front part of a silver sports car on a road, with a distant desert landscape and mountains under a clear sky in the background.

Project
Audi Car Commercial

Year
2016

Four issues of International Artist magazine laid out on a wooden surface. The covers feature various artworks including a painted still life, a detailed scratchboard of a frog, a colorful glass teapot, and a dark background with a butterfly and a bird.

Publication
International Artist Magazine

Year
2015

Three issues of American Art magazine with artistic covers, one featuring a woman with colorful hair and braids, another with floral artwork, and the third with a vintage suitcase filled with books and a clock, are spread on a wooden table with a black stripe.

Publication
American Art Collector

Years
2015, 2020

“I felt such joy when I saw her paintings of telephone poles. Never before have I even noticed telephone poles, but these have excited and delighted me!”

— John Cowie

Explore Paintings

Awards Include

American women artists

Award of Merit for Still Life

2022

Distinguished Achievement Award, Best of Landscape, Seascape, Cityscape, Under A Vast Sky

2017

Academy Center of the Arts Annual National Juried Art Exhibition

2nd Place

2022

Alexandria Museum of Art Annual International Juried Art Competition

1st Place

2018

National Juried Exhibition at Larkin Arts

People’s Choice Award