Arts: Annie Koelle

When it comes to art, “all in the family” is the phrase that comes to mind when you think about Annie Koelle. In her White Whale studio space, you will find things you expect to see surrounding an artist: paint brushes, half-finished projects, knick-knacks for inspiration. But you will also find a husband and a son, the two artists with whom she shares her space. Her husband, Chris, specializes in printmaking and illustration while Marshall, age two, creates mostly abstract work with chalk and crayons.

Annie, wife and mom aside, beckons poetry out of the particulars. In them she is fluent, and she translates them into art; a luna moth, a bird, or clover, always set in a repurposed frame from a local thrift store. The detail that characterizes her work is subtle, keen and charming, not so different from her own disposition.

“I was kind of a weird kid. I would sit on the roof and read poetry,” Annie recalls with self-exposing humor. That child-like curiosity of the world never died in her, and her art is tangible evidence of an idiosyncratic spirit.

“I relate to God very much as a creator. It blows my mind to see how the world works and the intricacies and design of nature,” says Annie, entranced at the thought. “The more I paint, the more I appreciate it. It’s humbling.”

Most recently working with Benjamin Moore Aura paint (thanks to a tip from fellow Greenville artist Paul Flint) on wood panels, Annie likes the freedom it gives her to erase and re-work her charcoal or graphite drawings over the color.

She is currently working on a series of named owls painted for September’s Indie Craft Parade in downtown Greenville, organized by her sister, Erin Godbey. A juror for the event, Annie looks forward to featuring some of her own nature-based work that calls attention to animals as individuals; quirky, stately, or tricksy, and not mass-produced.

With endless creative endeavors on her plate, Annie tells the downside of artistic wheels, always spinning. “I can’t go to sleep sometimes because I am thinking of things to make,” says Annie. “If I was single, I would work all the time, which wouldn’t be good for me, so I am thankful for my family.”

At the end of the day, this grown-up artist is not so different from the kid who used to read poetry on her roof. “I still feel like that weird kid sometimes,” says Annie with a blushing laugh, happy in her studio with her paintbrushes, half-finished projects, knick-knacks, husband, and son for company.

More Annie, Please
If you just can’t get enough, check out Annie’s blog at www.blog.koelleart.com, her website at www.anniekoelle.com, or her Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/koelleart.