ANN PELLATON | PRESIDENT OF NAWA FROM 1985-1987

Q.  How long have you been a member of NAWA?
A. I became a member of NAWA in 1973. So I have been a member for 43 years.

Q. Why did you originally choose to apply to NAWA?
A. One of my friends, Catchi Childs, had joined in 1972 and NAWA had a reputation as the top group to belong to.

Q. When were you president?
A. I was President from 1985-1987.

Q. What did it mean to you to be the president of NAWA?
A. To be President was an honor and I believe NAWA still has the reputation of the top artist organization.

Q. How has NAWA contributed to your growth as an artist? As a person?
A. I have made and kept some very strong relationships with members of NAWA and we support each other’s work and shows.

Q. Has your work changed since you became a member of NAWA?
A. The style of my work changes including subject matter but I work in watercolor, oil, acrylic, collage, etching, etc.

Q. How would you describe your work/process?
A. Authority, sureness and strength are qualities that I look for in my work. Until these qualities become evident, I continue to work and rework, revise and recreate. I like clear unequivocal statements. While I enjoy the challenge of large scale works, I also try for monumentality in the smallest of my works as well. While the reality of landscape and figure may be the initial impetus, the character of the medium itself soon created the excitement which carries me through the painting process. It’s important to me to use the medium in ways that are uniquely personal rather than in clichéd techniques.

When people I respect say, in regard to my painting: “that is a Pellaton,” then I feel that I have communicated the deepest part of myself; it goes beyond subject matter or technique.