I have been chasing creative ventures for most of my life. I picked up a guitar and started writing music before I was 12, performing in a variety of genres and settings through young adulthood. Forced, like most people, to get a “real job,” I sought out creative activities in my spare time: needlepoint, knitting, crochet, embroidery, cross stitch, sewing, scrapbooking, and all kinds of gardening. I never considered myself an “artist” because I was that kid who couldn’t draw accurately or color inside the lines. In 2020 my daughter gave me a subscription to Sketchbox, a monthly bonanza of visual art materials and accompanying lessons on how to use them, and lo and behold I discovered that those skills were not necessary to create visual art. 

I LOVE color and fell in love with watercolors because of the range of colors and textures I could create with them. I began painting cards for family and friends. Upon retiring from teaching elementary school (a job that required creativity on a daily basis!), I decided to go “all in” on art, the results of which you will see here. You could call me a “naive” or “folk” artist, that is, one who has no formal training, but I learn something new about art every time I pick up a paintbrush. I’ve come to realize, in my senior moments, that it’s never too late to start something new, to learn and grow, or to change direction. I live outside Raleigh, NC, with my creative husband and goofy terrier, Hudson, and am very lucky to have all three of my adult children living nearby.

I hope my art brings you some joy and inspires you to step out into something new, because it is

NEVER TOO LATE!

XO- Ann-Marie Taranto

Inspiration: Lake Como, April, 2024