Evolution of an Art Legacy: Meet Maine-Based Encaustic Artist Annie Darling

Today I have with me in the studio artist Annie Darling, thanks for coming in today. Thank You for having me. You actually have the best name, Annie Darling. Has anybody I've heard that before. I'm gonna, I'm gonna assume so. Yes, yes. Do you feel like it contributes positively to your life? In a way? I suppose, I suppose it is a positive name and I have been commented on it or called Darling a lot, so that's kind of nice. Oh yeah. I guess it's good if you like the person, right? Yes. . If you don't like the person, that's maybe me a little bit insulting, but, Well, no, I like it either way. Yeah. So Annie, how did you come to Maine? I grew up near Chicago and um, my parents actually are the reason I moved to Maine. But, um, while in Chicago, um, we, my, my father was a professional photographer and my mom an interior designer, she worked at the Merchandise Mart and so, um, we took trips into the city all the time to go to museums and art galleries and that's where I first fell in love with art. Um, but then my parents wanted to, to move and we had friends in Maine, so we came to Maine when I was 11. So I've been here long time. Where'd You grow up? I grew up outside of Chicago in Barrington. But when you came to Yeah. Oh, um, in South Portland, Cape Elizabeth. Okay. Yeah. And where did you go to high school? In South Portland. That is where my mother graduated from high school. School. Oh. So yes. That's nice. We're keeping it in the family here. Yeah. Yeah. Do you feel like your high school experience, um, in any way directed you towards the, the education you had eventually seek out and communications and, No, not really. I, I took an art class there and I, I wasn't inspired by it, so it really wasn't until college that I sort of went that direction. I drew all my life. Like my first drawing was when I went to the art institute and, and, uh, in Chicago and I came back and I drew these pictures of Jesus on the cross when I was seven. So I was, I must have been inspired by the painting and so I've always drawn that, that was my big thing was drawing. And, uh, so I kind of found, found it through design and in college for the most part. That's a, that's a very dramatic and specific thing for a seven year old to, uh, I know I bring back home and decide they wanna do some work on. I know, I know. It's kind of funny. . Yeah. So do you have a sense for what, what it was that struck you about at that particular piece? I think it was that, um, the contrast and the light and my dad being a photographer, I saw a lot of photography when I was young and I, when I was in college, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to do design or photography. Those were my two sort of choices in terms of career direction at that point. And, um, so I, I just think I was always, um, I was introduced to the concepts of photography really early through my dad. And so I think what I saw was sort of the, in my little drawing, you know, I think I saw a lot of contrast and, and some really feeling in the artwork and it just, it must have touched me, you know, to come back and draw that. So, so yeah, it was kind of neat. So in my family, a lot of the conversation around the table, because my father was in medicine and my mother was a teacher, kind of focused on those professions. Yep. Around your table, did you have conversations around photography or design? Oh yeah. Constantly. Constantly. My mom was always talking about her jobs, you know, her projects that she was working on. She would, I would go with her sometimes to help. Same thing with my dad. I would go into his studio in Chicago, which was really fun. Um, cuz he had m and ms there. That's was one of my favorites back then. And, um, so I was, I was around it all the time and, and they were talking about it a lot. And of course our home was beautiful cause my mom was an interior designer, so I just got it, um, sort of intrinsically. My uncle, my father's twin brother also was a sculptor and taught at Cooper Union in New York. And so, uh, I spent time in New York with him. And so, and my, I have a printmaker in the, I have a lot of artists in my, my family is pretty much all artists. How did you blend the, the design part of your life and the communications part of your life? How did, what did that look like for you? Well, I bounced around in college cuz I really couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. And I wanted to self design a major, but it was too much paperwork. So I just self-designed a major myself, . So I started off in industrial technology, um, and I did that for a couple of years. And then, um, and architecture and printing was involved in that too. And then right at the verge of computers, that's how old I am. Um, and then, um, I did some design classes, some art classes, some communication classes. And when I came down to it, it was, um, I could graduate the easiest, uh, doing a communications major, which is what I did. But I loved interpersonal communication and um, and uh, just some of the, I like psychology too. That's one of my passions is psychology. And so, um, that all blends together. It all blends together in the art and the design world, especially. I went into advertising right after college. And so psychology is huge. Isn't that So, kind of gave me a different perspective on art and the visual language. Give me an example of that. Well, the medium is the message, you know, how, how, what, what we say and how we, how we say it is more important than what we say, whether it's visually or in person, in language. And so that really was something that I was drawn to is how we can influence others. Um, a color theory is a great example in the art world is color really has a lot of impact. So those are, um, those are the, some of the things that I really appreciate and work with every day is I love just the basic principles of design and art. You know, whether it's line form, movement, color, um, uh, balance, structure, contrast, those things tho those that's, I'm really interested in the tech, kind of the technical aspects, which is I think why I ended up being a designer , cuz it was a little more techy. I have a little techy brain in me. Well, I love that you're, um, explaining this to me because as someone who was not trained in art or design, I, I continue to learn as I go along. So when, when somebody says, I have a background in design for you to be able to say, oh, color theory or line. I mean, I, I think that that gives those of us who don't have as much knowledge about it, a sense of what it is that this actually means that you are, um, working on. It's, it's Really, it's, those are the interesting things. I'm teaching a workshop this weekend in Cape, and so I, uh, um, it's a collage workshop. It's very simplistic, but I broke it down into those categories. And I think, I think to understand those, it, it narrows the field so people aren't so afraid of it. You know, they can, everyone can relate to line or color, those types of things. So it's, it's breaking it down to the simplest aspects. Do you think that people are afraid of art or diving into it? I Think people are afraid that they're not artists. You know, people are like, oh, I can't draw. I can't do this. I'm, I'm not an artist. And I used to feel that way when I was young where, um, I, I wasn't, uh, I was always an abstract illustrator so I could never draw people. So I was like, well, I can't draw. So I think people have that inherent, um, piece of them that says, I can't do this, or this is scary, or this is too, too much. So, but I think everyone, everyone can be an artist and is an artist in whatever it is they Do. What I'm fascinated by is that, um, you have in front of you a series of notes that are actually kind of illustrated and designed about things that were just kind of prompting you what Yeah. What you thought might be helpful to talk about. But I love that they're, I mean, even just looking at them, they're very, they're very visual. Yes. You know, that you've drawn a few pictures and you know, the way that you've drawn your letters. Um, and you talk about, on one of these, you talked about the linear and organic aspects of you mm-hmm. . Yeah. I, um, I think one of the, one of the problems, I hate to say problems. One of the issues I've come up against in my own art is that I have sort of two styles of art. So I have a geometric style that I've been working on for quite a long time, but I started with a landscape style. And so I, I never felt that they went together, although other people would say, I can see you in your art no matter what the art is. Um, but for me it feels like, oh, there's two different personalities. And so, um, I wrote down on one of my cards, um, sort of, I, I am sort of a sli personality where I have this linear side, which is thoughtful, design oriented, detailed, perfectionist, uh, discoverer side. And then I have this really organic side, which is emotional and free flowing and passionate and curious and um, and meaningful. And so I sort of use different as aspects of myself for each, for each thing, for each style that I have. Um, but it is all me. It's just , it's just very, to me, it just seems diver like too roads. Um, but I've brought, brought them together over the years, um, and kind of brought some of the landscape into the, into the more geometric work. And you can see some of the texture of the, the landscape work and the geometrics and, and the landscapes even have some geometry to them In looking at your work, because I was at the Portland Art Gallery mm-hmm. , I, I noticed there was a very unique texture to the piece that I was looking at. Mm-hmm. . So talk to me about that. Uh, it's a pretty involved process that I use. And, um, I, when I was moving from working on the, um, the landscape work and going into the geometric work, um, I, I was trying to figure out, oh, how, how do I do this? So, so what I ended up doing is I work flat, first of all, um, in my studio, which is why I can't work too big cuz it's only as far as I can reach. So, um, so I work flat and I actually use a snowboard iron and drip the wax onto the paintings. Um, and then I smooth it out. So on the, on the one that's in the gallery, there's a whole, um, series of layers of just texture. So because I'm dripping and smoothing out with the iron, the, the wax, um, the wax doesn't stay in one place. The wax the wax kind of does what the wax wants to do. And so, um, so it's kind of bumpy. It's not, it's not even. And then, um, after that I can heat it up a little bit and take a brush and go through it with a brush and create texture and then use a, use some tools to, to do some etching into it. Um, so in the piece that you saw, there's wax on the bottom, then there's some textural activity with brushing. And then after that, um, um, I do an oil stick inside. So, so what happens is it really picks up the base of the texture. So if there's any divots in it, the, the, um, the, uh, pig pigment will stay in there. And then, um, and then the rest I can wipe clean. So you'll see these black marks almost like etching, which I love etching. So, um, so you have the etch surface. And then, um, what I do is I work with oil, um, and a little bit of, um, sometimes some other mediums, uh, and paint on top. So then I'm making a choice of where I wanna put the color and where I don't. And the fun thing is, um, the, uh, the enco medium is kind of luminous medium, and you can actually rub it up and so it, so it has a kind of a shine to it. Um, and then the oil is, is, is matte. So I have this kind of relationship between the matte, and this is sort of a design thing, um, but sort of a, the matte tones next to the, next to the, um, brighter tones. And so, so it has all kinds of texture because of all these, all the layering and all of the, um, the different mediums that are with it as well, which is what I love. Well that was kind of what I was thinking was that as you're describing, um, working on en caustic pieces and you have, you're bringing in all these different facets of, um, exploring form, I guess, um, that it, it sounds like there has to be a playfulness involved because you're not necessarily maybe ahead of time able to say, well, I would like to have the wax go here, here and here. Right. It's very hard to control. Very hard to control. And I don't plan, typically plan my paintings ahead of time. There's a couple of paintings I've actually drawn out and said, ah, let me try, let me do this. Some of the larger geometrics are like that, but mostly, um, mostly I, I sit with the canvas and I just allow it to create itself and it will, and part of my process really is kind of this communication between me and the work. And so I do something, I'm, I do a layer, I'll make some marks or whatever, and then I'll, I'll kind of let that speak to me and then it tells me, okay, I need to balance. And these are all sort of, the design education really helps me because, um, in something like that where, where I'll have an element that I just dropped down and then it's sort of that sensibility that tells me what do I need to do next? Do I need to balance it? Do I need to, you know, what do I need to do from sort of a design standpoint? I kind of use that memory of mine to sort of feel it out and I'm always feeling it out. So I'm doing the next thing and I'm feeling that out, and then I'm feeling the next piece. So, so one piece, one drop, one ev, anything that I do informs the next, and that's the discovery for me that I really enjoy is, is just kind of allowing it to lead me into a, into a direction. And it does it on its own. They paint, they paint themselves sometimes. How long Does it take to create one of these pieces? Cause it sounds like a very involved process. It can be, it can be, um, different pieces take, they take their own time. Um, some pieces that are very simple, take a long time. Some pieces that are very complicated, take a short time. I call the pieces that take a short time, my personal masterpieces, cuz usually, and usually it's typically at the beginning or at the end of doing a series. So I do work in series where I'll decide that I'm gonna do, do, um, some geometric pieces or whatever, and they're gonna have this sort of style or feel or size or whatever I choose. Um, and usually at the very beginning or the very end, they take a shorter amount of time because I'm free. So at the beginning I'm free to create whatever I want. There's no, there's no set thing that I'm trying to go for. And then same thing at the end, well, I've created a bunch, I don't really need this piece or whatever. Uh, you know, my mind just goes and, and again, I have freedom at the end. So I feel like, uh, that, uh, those works oftentimes I will note that those works are some of my best works because they're created with less of me and more of the work. The work is just driving itself. So I have a really great piece that came together in a really short amount of time and it's one of my most beautiful pieces and I feel like I didn't create it, it just kind of created itself so different times. And how does just the, the practice, the experience, how does that kind of weave its way in? Oh, it's always learning. I'm always learning. And I'm, I, I like to push the medium. I really like to push the medium. So I'm constantly, every, every series is, is takes what I ha what I did before and just compounds that and goes into more and more and more. So I feel like every, every single painting is an experience. And um, and then that experience just gets imbued to the next painting. And I feel like my work, um, maybe like, maybe unlike other work is, um, I can't even recre recreate my own pieces if I try to recreate, like somebody might wanna commission and say, I want it to be like that painting and it's impossible. It's because of the wax, because of the medium. So I can get close, I can get the same feel or whatever, but I can never really recreate a painting. So that's kind of enjoyable for me that every piece is its own creation. So it sounds like in your case, the discovery process is really important. And I guess I'm wondering if this over time, this experience that you're drawing on has helped you to bring the linear side of you together with the organic side of you in this discovery Process. Absolutely, absolutely. And, um, it is, they are morphing one into another. They're becoming more of, more of one, because I'm taking some of the textures I've had in the landscape pieces, and you'll see them showing up in the, in the graphic pieces where the graphic pieces were a little less textural at the beginning. And then you'll see some of those forms and shapes and some of the textures coming back into the landscape work. So all of the, all of the discovery I do is part of, it's part of the growth process for me. And it's part of what keeps me, that's where my passion is, is is discovering something like, oh, I, I've never done that before. Oh, that does that. Wow, I've never done that. And that happens almost in every painting, which is surprising because it's, I don't know, it's surprising to me that I keep learning and learning and learning. You'd think that I would know what I'm doing by now, but , but in a way I'm always discovering something new and I love the exploration process and it's a form of play for me to paint. You know, painting for me is, is, um, is is real. It's really all about that exploration. It's really all about seeing what can happen and, and allowing myself to go wherever it takes me. Do you think it is hard for people to allow themselves to play? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I think people, um, like when I think of my classes that I teach classes and, um, they're always so nervous and I'm like, who wants to play? Who wants to have fun? This is supposed to be fun. And people actually come to my, I do little enco classes as well. And, um, so people come because they have fun and then everybody thinks that they're not gonna create something great. Like they all think, oh, this is gonna, you know, my piece is gonna be awful. And then they come out and they're like, oh my gosh, this is fantastic. Um, and again, I think teaching that way, it's sort of bringing it back to the basics where I say to people, don't use all the colors, just stick with the warms or stick with the cools. And trying to lead them to success through limitation, which I do in my own artwork a lot of times, limit myself and say, okay, this, this is only gonna be, this is gonna be monochromatic or dichromatic or take, take something away and make it simpler. And that actually can lead to really great discoveries. Yeah. You raise an interesting, um, idea and that is that sometimes it's what isn't there that, um, makes something seem more cohesive? Yes, yes. I think taking away and making it, it as, um, as refi, it's almost like refining it. Like Steve Jobs, he just kept, sorry. He just kept taking away and taking away and taking away. And that's why his products are so beautiful. It's not, it's what's not there, you know, you don't need the extras. And so I try to work with that too. Not having too much plus I'm visual stimulation. For me, I cannot stand a lot of vis visual stimulation, so I need sort of a really quiet space. So for me, the taking away process is part of what soothes me as a person. , When I've talked to other artists, I've, sorry Kevin, I will definitely get watered before the next one. When I've talked to other artists, they've suggested sometimes that they are listening to music while they're in the studio or listening to podcasts while they're in the studio. But you've at least described kind of a quiet visual space, or do you listen to anything? Um, yes. When I, uh, when I first started painting, I was going through a divorce and I was listening to Heavy Metal, and you'll see it in my work. The work was black and red and orange and yellow and white. And, and it was just really dark cuz I was going through a dark time and now, and, and then I would listen to podcasts. But the problem is when I look at a painting that I've done and I listen to a podcast, I'm like, oh, there's Joe Rogan's seasoned, you know, whatever. So I, I now I listen to nothing but like upbeat happy songs because, because those kind of wash away in my mind and I don't connect a particular song with them. I just connect happiness with it. So I'm very influenced by what I'm listening to. So I've, I've kind of, and you'll see, if you look at the trajectory of my work, you'll see it go from very dark to very light and from very monochromatic, um, and, and color less color to, to right now. It's like these colors, it's blues and greens and bright. So you can see that trajectory in my life, um, as an artist and, and, um, you know, Picasso had his periods, you know, the blue period, things like that. And I think as artists, we have our periods of time and, and they're very much, um, where we are is reflected in our work. My artist's statement at the end of my artist's statement, it, it talks about be being seen exactly as you are in the moment, um, good or bad. And, um, I feel that as artists, we're really being vulnerable. We're really showing, um, ourselves in our work, whether we, whether we want to or not. Um, it shows up. And for me, I feel like it's very inherent in my work. You can, you can see where I am, you can see, you can see periods of time where I was struggling by that my work isn't good. Like I've had periods of time like, wow, that was a really bad time. Look at that work. So you can see where my work really reflects where I am as a person. That's a, that's kind of a big deal to have that level of vulnerability to, to be looking at this dark piece and putting in front of somebody else and wondering, do they know that I was going through a divorce at that time? Do they know where my mental, um, health was at that time? How do you handle the way that that might make you feel being vulnerable with putting your art into the world? Well, the interesting thing is people relate to it. You know, people will relate to their own, um, their own lives through that work. So people who like the darker work, there's some reason why they're drawn to it. And so I feel like that is, um, part of it. Um, I was looking at one of LAN's paintings last night at, um, Portland Art Gallery, and it just had this beautiful blue with this contrasting golden color. Um, and it just gave me just, just this really beautiful sense. And so I could sense where she, I've seen her work throughout the year, so I know, you know, kind of what she's done and what her, her work has looked like in the past. And, and, um, it had some freedom to it and it just had some different qualities. And I actually spoke to her about it because I could see, um, I could see how she had changed and grown. And I brought that up to her that for a while, her, her work was, um, uh, was in a sort of, in a, in a certain box and then all of a sudden I saw her get out of that box. So as an artist, knowing that kind of, that happens, I could see that with her. So I, I, I said that to her that it was really fun to see her growth and acknowledge that for her. So I, I feel like people relate to it. Like I can relate to that. I could see that because I have done that in my work and my life. When I interviewed Lois Lowry and she's the author of children's books and young adult books and some adult books. Um, I had read up on many of her pieces cuz she's very prolific and I remember bringing up to her in the interview, um, oh, I, this book that one of the first books that you wrote and it said this, this, and this. And it was interesting. Her response was almost as if, yes, I, I can, I I appreciate that, that part of my life. And also it's kind of behind me and mm-hmm. , now I'm at my, kind of, in my most recent work, you know, it's not that she's discounting mm-hmm. , the the first thing that she wrote, but it's more like she's more fully connected to what she most recently Wrote. I feel that way too in that when you look back on your work, when you can see your work, like I can see my work all the time. Um, when you look back on your work, you can, uh, you can see growth and sometimes that growth means, like what I just said, it's, you're looking back on some things that might not be so great. You're looking back at your learning, you're looking back at your growth, um, in whether it's art or relationships or whatever. You make mistakes or you, or you, um, don't do things in a way that you wished you could have done them. And then, and then you grow and you actually do that. And then it's really exciting and you can, and I think sometimes looking back on, um, some of the work that you've done, it's not necessarily an experience of shame or whatever, but it's an experience of like, oh, you know, it's kind of cringey sometimes to look back on work that, that you may have thought was good at one point because that's where you are at. But now that you're at another level, it doesn't, you know, it, it's not as good. You don't appreciate it as much as you did in, in that moment. So it's kind of scary . Yeah. And I, I think you've just described all of life mm-hmm. that you look back on your life and say, oh, that's really cringey. I wish I had never done that. Right, Right. And in art, you get to do it in public . Annie, what is it about the upcoming year that excites you? What is it that you are working on right now with your art that, um, is going to kind of continue to evolve and you're gonna share with the world? Um, right now in the winter, I usually take at least a month off. Um, because I find with anything, any job you have, when you don't take time off, what happens is everything gets stale. Um, so I usually in the wintertime focus on marketing and focus on, uh, other things. And, uh, and, and I sit with what's going on. I sit with what happened last year. I sit with these things and then they bubble up and form into something. Like I never know what the new, what the next body of work. So usually I create sort of a body of work a year, just I, I sort of take off with some sort of idea or curiosity or something I wanna discover. And then that ends up blossoming into something. Typically, um, I'm taking from ol from old, from, uh, from the past. So one example is there's a work called, um, called Lonely Worlds, um, and which will be at the gallery soon. And, uh, so that piece is a piece that I did. It was the only light piece actually that I did after I got divorced. And it was a, um, it's a 24 by 48 and it had, it's mostly white with a lot of texture in it. And then these groups of really small dots in three places. And then there's one small black dot, which represented me. And I just felt really far away from everyone. I felt lonely and I felt like everyone else had someone, everybody else in a group, everyone else, blah, blah, blah, you know? And, and here I am all alone. So that was my expression of that. And then that was my first, um, geometric piece. I didn't know it at the time, but then, um, then my circles got larger and then my circles got larger, and then my circles got larger. And the pieces that are at the gallery now, the circles are huge. So, so I, I took this little circle and then I expanded on the circle once, and I expanded on it twice, and then I expanded on it third time. So that's kind of what happens to me is, is I'm like, what if, you know? And I, for some reason I'm addicted to circles. I love circles. Um, and so, and, and two that meant community to me. So when we were talking about story, um, you know, here I went from being this little teeny tiny circle that was all alone. And then, um, I wanted to build community. So you'll see a lot of the work after that with lots of, lots of circles. And so I, and I found community oddly enough as I was searching, I found it. And you can see that ob obviously my community's huge now because these circles are huge. Um, so it's, and it is, it's true, you know, being with the gallery community. So, uh, so it's a reflection of my life too. But also these, um, these little aspects, it'll be one little aspect that I want to explore. Like I wanted to explore the circle. Um, and it could be, um, in the landscape work, it could be just really working with the texture. Like, I found out how to do this new texture. Oh, I can do that now. Let me see what I do when I expand that out. So all of the work is based usually on something from the last piece, just like you would take lessons from my relationship and move forward to, into another one. Well, hopefully. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. , Not everybody does True. Some people just Recreate the same work over and over again in the same relationship word over Again. And that, um, we were talking earlier about, um, about me feeling like, um, like my work is kind of dichotomous, if that's the word. Um, and, and that's something that I worried about is that I wasn't creating the same thing over and over. I was going over here and then way over here, and then way over here, and then way over here. Um, and being comfortable with it still being my work was difficult. Um, because it, it was felt to me like it was all over the place, but really it was all learning to get to wherever I'm going. . Well, I mean, that's okay. Yeah. And I, and I love the idea that you take time off in a year because it is, it's, it's like having fellow ground. Mm-hmm. , I think the first first radio show I ever did was with an author, uh, Liz Peeve, whose mother had died. Oh, love Liz. Love Liz. Yeah. And her mother had died and she had written a play, and she talks about this idea of fallow ground mm-hmm. . And she talks about this, this kind of just letting things rest because you know, you need to get through the winter, right. And then the spring things will come again. And when I talked to Linda Greenlaw, who's another author, she talked about how in the wintertime she writes, and in the summertime she's out on the ocean. So I, I think what you're describing is so powerful and, and giving yourself permission to say this is actually part of the creative process. Mm-hmm. , taking time away is actually part of the creative process. We do not all need to be a hundred percent moving forward all the time. Well, and I work alone, so I'm in a small place by myself a lot. And I'm, my being is a tactile, being e sensual, being a being who needs to see and look. And so, so to me, when I, when I take that time, I make sure to go places. I'd look at other art, very inspired by other art, obviously since I was a kid. Um, and I need to see things. I need to touch things. I need to hear things. So that's, you know, that comes back and, and is my inspiration. It's not, um, it's not always, you don't always see the inspiration in the work. It just feeds me somehow and allows me to sort of be able to give again. And I love that process. And I, I need that process. I can feel it in my body when I need to, when I need to go. I'm like, okay, I gotta go