To learn more about Anna Marie, visit her website amcrovetti.com or naughtypaw.com, where she shares her other interest, supporting animal welfare organizations which emphasis rescue, rehabilitation, fostering and adoption. Also, find her on Instagram @amcrovetti @naughtypaw or on her Evanston Made page.
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The Art of Making Art: Anna Marie Crovetti
Unconventional combinations of paint and pigments on paper.
Anna Marie Crovetti is never at a loss for ideas of what to create. She feels surrounded by messages and has hundreds of photos, sketches and notes collected to spark an idea for her next piece of art. In fact, unlike many artists, she decides on the title of a piece before she starts her creation.
Crovetti creates art using unconventional combinations of paint and dry and soft pigments on paper. The art paper she chooses varies; the possibilities include anything from velvety French and Italian printmaking papers to handmade watercolor and drawing papers.
She has multiple brands and “zillions” of colors of dry pigments consisting of soft pastels, watercolors, charcoal or pencils. Pastel powdered pigments are applied on the top surface layer of her work. They’re made from ground-up earth minerals and formed with a binder into sticks or pencils, or pressed into pans.
While Crovetti creates many commissioned portraits, her current creations are mainly images drawn from her preoccupation with what is seen and happening around her. Many of her works have centered around nature, but today more include topics she cannot ignore in these volatile times.
She finds herself responding to these personal “calls” with more intention than ever before. With thoughts pinballing around her head, she is driven to create her next image. With a rush of adrenalin, an image will suddenly demand she begin a new artwork.
She works in a third-story studio in her townhouse home. The morning is her time to process what she will do for the day while she waits for the sun to rise high enough to light her west-facing studio. Once good natural light is available, she begins working on a new piece, and usually works until the light is too low in the late afternoon or early evening.
With her soft pastels, she begins by applying dark pigments and then works toward lighter-colored pigments. Choosing the colors and how she blends them comes from Crovetti’s years of experience with how or if they will move well together. When she blends, she might use her hands, blending stumps, erasers, brushes, pencils, razor blades or other tools to create the look she is working toward.
Between layers, she applies spray fixative with a light touch, so as not to disturb the pigments. The fixative allows Crovetti to add more layers of color without causing additional, unintentional blending. After the image is complete, either the same day or several days later, she adds a final fixative layer.
Each pastel is then matted and framed using care to avoid the pastels being wiped or moved, which would damage the image. With the new artwork completed, Crovetti eliminates the studio chaos by cleaning the pastel dust and returning supplies to their storage area.
This returns her studio to a tidy, quiet breath of space she adores. Snuggling into her cozy chair, Crovetti looks through the art, books and other inspirational items she has gathered there and revels in the calm – until her next work of art springs forward, begging to be created.
After having her business based here for many years, Crovetti moved to Evanston recently. She thinks the Evanston community believes musicians, artists and writers are an essential part of a complete, spirited community, and organizations like Evanston Made help bring this arts focus to the forefront.
Thank you Evanston RoundTable and Jean Cunningham for this wonderful opportunity and for sharing the love today. I am so fortunate to be part of this dynamic and ever-evolving creative community where support and connectivity for the arts abounds. And to the extraordinary and endless efforts of Lisa Degliantoni and Liz Cramer, Co-Directors of Evanston Made, all of the makers and new and old friends in this beautiful haven, the sparkling City by the Lake.
Art makes everything better.
NEW GICLEE PRINTS
Brightscape
(A Morning Show)
In Memory of Lin Brehmer
Our best friend in the whole world.
(August 19, 1954 – January 22, 2023)
“Take nothing for granted. Its great to be alive.”
Limited edition hand embellished Giclée print on Innova soft textured paper
Edition size: 30
Artist proofs: 2
Image size: 12” x 18”
Sheet size: 14” x 20”
Signed and numbered in pencil front and verso.
$125.00 unframed.
The airwaves are a bit dimmer place since you’ve been gone, but the new day always comes.
Thank you for the love, the words, and the music…rest well, friend.
93XRT Chicago’s Finest Rock
A portion of the proceeds from each sale of this print will be donated to:
FOUNDATION TO BE NAMED LATER https://www.ftbnl.org/
or
Cancer Research Institute https://www.cancerresearch.org/
ASCENT
“The early days of a new year are here. We begin again. As we place thoughts, memories, and reflections of the happenings of these last difficult years behind us, we look ahead with newfound strength, fortitude and light for the beginnings of a bright future. I often collaborate with creative associates and friends and several years ago, writer and dear pal Bill Grotts and I created an image and a poem, some colors and some words, about light, healing, and being connected in support for the greater good when all seemed insurmountable, dark, and pained.
Oh, what light can do.
Our intention remains the same today, but in a new light and with new words for recovery; to rise and overcome, to fully reclaim one’s self and uplift a community. Together. We are now offering the limited edition, hand embellished giclée print on paper and a poem of the same name, our combined effort and collaboration.”
Limited edition embellished Giclée print on Innova soft textured paper.
Image size: 16” x 22”
Sheet size: 18” x 24”
Edition size: 25
Poem sheet size: 8 1/2″ x 11″
$125.00 unframed for the suite of two.
The art will be printed as it is ordered. Please allow 2 – 3 weeks for delivery as prints will also be hand embellished in studio with pastel, making each piece unique. A percentage of the net proceeds will benefit the following organizations, collector’s choice, which focus on therapies for curing and managing cancer, promoting protection and recovery for survivors of abuse, mental health awareness and wellness, encouraging education and the prevention of suffering in silence from the effects of PTSD.
Active Minds
Lunar Lace
Image sizes:
Small, 14” x 28”, Innova soft textured paper, sheet size, 16” x 30”, edition size 25 – $165.00 unframed.
Standard canvas on stretcher bar, edition size 12 – $300.00
Gallery wrap stretcher bar, edition size 12 – $360.00
Large, 18” x 36”, Innova soft textured paper, sheet size, 20” x 38”, edition size 25 – $225.00 unframed
Forgotten Wishes
Limited edition fine art Giclée print on Innova soft textured paper
wish
/wiSH/
verb
To feel or express a strong desire or hope for something that is not easily attainable; to want something that cannot or probably will not happen.
But, we do it anyway.
Tradition reminds us that unbroken wishbones symbolize the promise of luck, potential, and a thriving future. We wish upon all sorts of things; stars, wells, dandelions, lost eyelashes, crossed fingers, coins in fountains, etc, and at times, we have so many wishes, we often forget about them. We tie a string around our finger so we can remember our “to do’s” only to find that we forgot what we were to remember in the first place. As children, we are often taught to pray, and with our naive understanding, prayers always transformed into wishes. Yet, there are some who don’t have the good fortune to see beyond their past or current experience and the thought of making a wish, much less have it come true, is inconceivable.
May we continue to be mindful of wishes for the world, for those who need them, and if we happen to forget, save them for another time. Optimism abounds.
For these, we give thanks.
For my Father.
Image size: 8” x 12”, sheet size, 11” x 14”, edition size: 50
$75.00 unframed
All limited edition prints are signed and numbered in pencil on front and verso.
Chicago area local delivery is complimentary. Shipping and handling fees vary by location (US).
©amcrovetti, 2024 all rights reserved