Ann Spurgeon
I've always been an artist, there was never any doubt or even
any choice. My father was a cartoonist and encouraged my
interest in art with books about artists and materials to
experiment with. Circumstances made it difficult to pursue
education in a traditional manner. Although I abandoned
an art scholarship in my haste to leave home, I did manage
to spend time at the Instituto Allende in Mexico and the
School of Art and Design in Laguna Beach, CA.
My other great interest is the ocean and especially whales
and dolphins. When the opportunity came for me to go into
field research in whale behavoir I took it. During the six years
of study I incorporated my artwork into field illustration and
periodicals, and my fieldwork into my paintings. I exhibited
at various marine oriented galleries and numerous Marine Mammal Conferences including the International Marine Mammal Conference for whom I designed the 1991 logo. I did the cover for Whalewatcher magazine for the tuna/dolphin issue funded by Starkist Tuna and the logo for the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
Because of a toxic chemical exposure that resulted in lung damage I can no longer play or work safely in the water nor can I use the same materials I used to for painting because of my sensitivity. As a result my work has undergone some changes. Being away from the whales I no longer concentrate on them as primary subjects. I still paint dolphins but now I've figuratively jumped back in the water with the addition of mermaids. By "feeling" the environment I'm creating my work has taken on a new dimension. The experience of underwater vastness, movement, bioluminosity, mystery and life are what I attempt to portray. My mermaids see the world through different eyes.
Occasionally I take a "color break", return to my love of Mexico and my early art experiences to paint the flowers and romance of a more earthly existence.
-Ann Spurgeon
A Message from Maria
Ann Spurgeon is my mom. She was a visionary artist who had the deepest feelings of love, connection and appreciation for this planet and all it's life that I have ever seen. She had the graceful gift of capturing the essence of the spirit of her subjects and of the realm of the ocean; the movement, the light and shadow, the life energy. Her paintings are vessels of love and connectedness, a tribute to the great peaceful, and playful, minds of the waters.
In 2010 her life was cut tragically short by an aggressive cancer. When she was ill she told me over and over how precious and beautiful our planet is and how she couldn't imagine leaving it. I know that she didn't leave it, she is more a part of it now than ever. I imagine her in the ocean, the etheric mermaid, playing and communing with her beloved dolphins and whales.
Her paintings express the magic, beauty and grace of nature. She always wanted to share her paintings, to share their healing, uplifting energy. Through art shows and frequently through gifts she spread her visual message of a harmonious Earth, vibrant and glowing with clean healthy waters and an evolved form of community.
Being an only child, I inherited all that was left of her work, and I want to carry on her desire to share. I personally know the serenity and peacefulness that her paintings bring to my home. I have enjoyed watching people's responses to them when they come into my house over and over again. I want to share that energy just as she did.
