So Grateful
MY LIFE
I have three beautiful daughters (my muses) with crazy Irish names and personalities big enough to handle them. Eleven years ago I inherited our home, an 1864 farmhouse built by my great-great grandparents in western New York State which until April 2014 allowed our family to live in one of the most spectacular settings I could imagine. But change is good, and change we did. In a move to be closer to my inlaws, we've moved to Cocoa Beach, Florida for the next phase of our lives. Now here for almost two years, my marriage has unfortunately ended, but I've gained a job I love, a wonderful community, new friends, and one of the most beautiful places in the world to live.
MY ART
I seem to be slowly but surely creating a visual journal of my life. I started painting as a means of working out my grief for my mother who I lost to breast cancer in 2001. She was a wonderful watercolor artist who kept me at her side as she painted her life. My move to Florida has been not without its challenges, and I frequently turn to my sketchbooks to work out a sketch or an emotion. My watercolor pool paintings continue to be an obsession--one that in hindsight seems to have foreshadowed this move! The ephemeral nature of water seems to me a natural setting for my daughters, ever-growing and changing before my eyes, as unstoppable as the ripples and refracting light in the water. I primarily work in watercolors but in 2011 launched a series of little gouache paintings, inspired by the works of Thomas Paquette. Gouches are opaque watercolors, and they give me the freedom to layer up colors of glowing effects. I'm really in love with them--the process and the end product are colorful and fun. I of course anticipate a change of scene in my gouache landscapes, a continuation of my pool paintings, and I'll of course keep St. Bonaventure near and dear, continuing to work on that line of work as well. Some things won't change though...I'll always saturate my paintings with color, and being Irish, even my realistic subjects will have a touch of the unreal.
MY DESIGN
Hand in hand with my art is a background in graphic design. I was lucky enough to start out in a corporate atmosphere which gave me a foundation in layout, type, speed, and attention to detail. Those skills, combined with a artistic sensibility, inform my designs with a balance of aesthetics and strategy. I specialize in print and digital design. Request a quote at anne@anneconroybaiter.com.
MY CAREER
In July 8, 2014, I was hired as President of Junior Achievement of the Space Coast (www.jaspacecoast.org). The majority of my career has been focused on community betterment, and this job continues on that track by fostering work-readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy skills in youth attending Brevard County public schools. My tenure as Executive Director of the Cattaraugus County Arts Council came to an end in May 2014--it was a job that fell firmly in the category of dream job, combining all my years of experience into one position. I hope and believe that I did some good for the Western New York region during that time. After graduating from Tufts University in 1992, I was hired as a graphic designer with the Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC. Within a few years I was promoted to Director of Creative Services, with a staff of more than 30. I moved to Portland, OR in 1997 where I was hired as Creative Director at an advertising agency. After a year there, the Vice President and I left to start an event planning company specializing in nonprofit black-tie fundraising auctions.
And I remain so grateful for everything that's happened in my life. Keep in touch. I'd love to hear from you at anne@anneconroybaiter.com.
I have three beautiful daughters (my muses) with crazy Irish names and personalities big enough to handle them. Eleven years ago I inherited our home, an 1864 farmhouse built by my great-great grandparents in western New York State which until April 2014 allowed our family to live in one of the most spectacular settings I could imagine. But change is good, and change we did. In a move to be closer to my inlaws, we've moved to Cocoa Beach, Florida for the next phase of our lives. Now here for almost two years, my marriage has unfortunately ended, but I've gained a job I love, a wonderful community, new friends, and one of the most beautiful places in the world to live.
MY ART
I seem to be slowly but surely creating a visual journal of my life. I started painting as a means of working out my grief for my mother who I lost to breast cancer in 2001. She was a wonderful watercolor artist who kept me at her side as she painted her life. My move to Florida has been not without its challenges, and I frequently turn to my sketchbooks to work out a sketch or an emotion. My watercolor pool paintings continue to be an obsession--one that in hindsight seems to have foreshadowed this move! The ephemeral nature of water seems to me a natural setting for my daughters, ever-growing and changing before my eyes, as unstoppable as the ripples and refracting light in the water. I primarily work in watercolors but in 2011 launched a series of little gouache paintings, inspired by the works of Thomas Paquette. Gouches are opaque watercolors, and they give me the freedom to layer up colors of glowing effects. I'm really in love with them--the process and the end product are colorful and fun. I of course anticipate a change of scene in my gouache landscapes, a continuation of my pool paintings, and I'll of course keep St. Bonaventure near and dear, continuing to work on that line of work as well. Some things won't change though...I'll always saturate my paintings with color, and being Irish, even my realistic subjects will have a touch of the unreal.
MY DESIGN
Hand in hand with my art is a background in graphic design. I was lucky enough to start out in a corporate atmosphere which gave me a foundation in layout, type, speed, and attention to detail. Those skills, combined with a artistic sensibility, inform my designs with a balance of aesthetics and strategy. I specialize in print and digital design. Request a quote at anne@anneconroybaiter.com.
MY CAREER
In July 8, 2014, I was hired as President of Junior Achievement of the Space Coast (www.jaspacecoast.org). The majority of my career has been focused on community betterment, and this job continues on that track by fostering work-readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy skills in youth attending Brevard County public schools. My tenure as Executive Director of the Cattaraugus County Arts Council came to an end in May 2014--it was a job that fell firmly in the category of dream job, combining all my years of experience into one position. I hope and believe that I did some good for the Western New York region during that time. After graduating from Tufts University in 1992, I was hired as a graphic designer with the Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC. Within a few years I was promoted to Director of Creative Services, with a staff of more than 30. I moved to Portland, OR in 1997 where I was hired as Creative Director at an advertising agency. After a year there, the Vice President and I left to start an event planning company specializing in nonprofit black-tie fundraising auctions.
And I remain so grateful for everything that's happened in my life. Keep in touch. I'd love to hear from you at anne@anneconroybaiter.com.