My Story...

Annie Guthrie Gudis

Annie Guthrie Gudis painting a picture at an art showI have always been an artist. My earliest memories are of dancing and making pictures; both to music. After a 20 year career as a professional ballet dancer I worked as a baker and pastry maker, apprenticing with the renowned former White House pastry chef, Roland Messnier and winning a gold medal trip to France to visit three star restaurants.

After earning a BFA in painting and starting MFA studies I enjoyed a career as a gallery painter focusing on portraits and figurative work. I then discovered the immediacy and versatility of digital imaging as an art form and have worked with a series of digital cameras, archival printers and Macintosh computers that I came to love as much as point shoes and oil paints. Next, my partner and I designed and built costumes for Team USA Ice Dancers.

It has been a great adventure to once again discover painting and focus on the ethereal perspective of cloudscapes. For the past 6 years I have had the great pleasure to show my work in shows and festivals among skilled and accomplished professionals.

What I have discovered about being an artist is that the creative spirit is is adaptable to almost any medium....dancing is baking or painting or designing and building costumes or creating flower arrangements. The artist gathers information, sorts images, arranges them and expresses an idea in any available media. To work professionally, consistently and even ‘under the gun’ is the result of excellent training and discipline, which I have had the privilege to receive.

My Favorite Paint

Working with exquisite Windsor Newton and Old Holland paint is like squeezing jewels from tubes. The palette is often shades of blue. I establish the light source and flavor the clouds with yellows, pinks and violet appropriate to the time of day, season and weather.

Recent Paintings