February 16, 2006

Ann DiSalvo paints in dialogue

By Cindy Blankenship
For the Tidings

Ann DiSalvo’s “Willa/Flora,” acrylic paint on wood panel, was painted in 2003. Submitted photo

“Looking at other art inspires me. When I see other art I want to respond with my art, like being in dialogue,” says Ann DiSalvo, a multimedia artist specializing in pastel paintings of figures and landscapes.

DiSalvo adds that she is also greatly inspired by nature, and that she doesn’t have to travel out of this area “to be out in the landscape and find beauty that is so overwhelming, I have to do something about it.”

Her nature work includes a pastel painting that was incorporated into the interpretive sign at the Cascade Siskiyou Monument near the Pacific Crest Trail. The realistic pastel portrays bears, newts and some of the other animals that have a safe haven at the monument.

The human body is another natural form that inspires DiSalvo who 11 years ago co-founded the Pomegranate Group, a group of half a dozen women who gather every Thursday to practice figure drawing. To save the expense of a nude model, each member takes a turn. “We’re all friends, so it’s very comfortable,” she says, and answering a question about if the friends’ work is complimentary, she laughs and says, “We’re constantly apologizing, ‘Oh I made your butt too big.’ It’s good to have the continuing practice ... If you can manage proportions means you have a lot of control over your drawing skills.”

For DiSalvo, figure drawing provides the challenges that keep her skills honed. And the gathering of friends is also a time for laughter and discussions of the previous week’s ups and downs.

DiSalvo grew up an artist. Her mother, a charcoal artist who did commission portraits in her spare time while raising nine children, provided her daughter with instruction in drawing. “She was a very good influence … she’s still drawing,” says DiSalvo.

In high school she took all the art classes she could. Then, at the University of Wisconsin, she explored a wide variety of mediums, including jewelry, ceramics and fabric design, and then ended up returning to drawing and painting. While she paints occasionally in acrylics, she says prefers pastels for their “immediacy of use.” She also favors charcoal and pencil.

Along with landscapes and figurative paintings, DiSalvo enjoys diverse projects, such as the mandala mural painted at a yoga studio.

She’s also used the blacktop pavement of the street as a canvas. In 2004, she won the “best painting” award at Art Along the Rogue Street Painting Festival held in on H Street in downtown Grants Pass. Here, she and 51 other artists creates works of art on the pavement with their sets of chalk. (Painting pictures with chalk on the street originated centuries ago in Italy and has become quite popular in the United States with some festivals such as Santa Barbara’s drawing over half a million people. “Painting” refers to the “brush strokes” and other applications of the chalk.)

Her canvas work has been exhibited in numerous group and solo shows and is in collections throughout the country. Areas of service include the planning stages of the Ashland Public Arts Commission and serving on the board of Jackson County Cultural

The Pomegranate Group’s sixth annual show takes place on First Friday this March at Studio A.B. A second figure drawing group DiSalvo attends is open to the public Monday mornings. Call her for details. DiSalvo is available for commissions, illustrations and portraits, and she offers tutoring in drawing to teens and adults. Her gallery is open at various hours. Call 482-2253 or drop in when the “Open” sign is out at Studio A.B. at 621 A St.