A highly respected, award-winning artist, Annette Adrian Hanna is known for her outstanding work in both pastel and oil.  Her luminous landscapes reflect a highly nuanced use of color and light. The treatment of water, trees and water lilies in Diamond Spring Pond clearly references Monet but also includes a sense of added depth and expansiveness.  The viewer is entranced by the sheer tranquility and loveliness of the scene, marveling at the mirror-like lake while being drawn to the distant bridge and shoreline by the pattern of the reflection on the water.

 

            

                                                               Diamond Spring Pond                                                            River Gold

In River Gold, the flaming yellows and orange of the trees are neatly framed by the tranquil greens of bushes. Here, Hanna uses the contrasting purple and blue shadows not only to spotlight the brilliance of the yellow and orange foreground trees but also to create the sense of distance, with trees seeming to extend down a hilly slope in the background.

 

                  

                                                                    Forgotten Path                                                   Golden Glow

The serpentine fence in Forgotten Path immediately draws the viewer deep into the landscape of bare winter trees. Echoing the grey of the trees in the grey shadings of the fence, the artist enlivens the muted colors with the multicolored grasses, dried leaves and reddish forest understory. With great skill and subtlety, Hanna simultaneously conveys the passage of time, the change of season and the abandonment of this path through her use of details such as broken portion of the fence, the untended vegetation and the mix of winter grey with autumn red and gold.  

In Golden Glow, Hanna uses a warmer palette of colors but captures a late Fall afternoon’s radiance, contrasting the stark outline of brown tree trunks against the brilliant golds of autumn leaves. Once again, the artist demonstrates her nuanced use of color, with the multi-toned purples/reds/blues of the shadows cast by the trees on the roadway. This is the magic time…before the sun goes down…when colors are at their most glowing.

 

                                                                                                            Below the Breithorn

An apt and alternate title for the exquisite Below the Breithorn could well be “purple mountains’ majesty.” Hanna’s rich and highly varied palette simply delights to the eye. Positioning the viewer on a ridge in the Swiss Alps…near the treetops of some firs, the artist directs our gaze across a mountain valley to distant peaks beyond. How beautifully she captures the color gradations, moving from the foreground greens and blues to the deep indigo, purple and lavender of the higher, more distant peaks and ultimately reaching the blue and white sky and clouds beyond. It is her masterful use of color and light which conveys the topographical undulations, the progression from gentle valley slopes to rugged mountains and gives the viewer a palpable sense of this expansive and grand landscape.

 

Sounds of Silence

Annette Adrian Hanna is also well known for her incisive and penetrating portraits.  In the Sounds of Silence, the light filters in from the window as the guitarist tests the instrument in his workshop. Everything in the scene is bathed in a muted golden light except for the different hue of the instrument itself. Hanna uses color to connect portions of the scene, moving the eye from the green sanding block to the stems of the daisies in the jar, to the green shirt of the instrumentalist.  Beautifully composed and lit, this canvas vividly portrays the concentration of the musician at one with his instrument. 

Inesse

The portrait of Inesse, a young Asian girl, reflects the vulnerability and delicacy of youth.  With some concern, the subject looks off to her left and we are left to wonder what she sees that worries her. Her slight frame and posture are echoed in the thin branches of the white birch tree on which she is poised. Her traditional costume, with its delicate floral design, calls to mind the dappled light of the woods. Her posture has a certain tension, a sense of watchfulness…with one leg raised, one arm bent…as though positioned for flight. Clearly a keen observer of the spirit behind the subject, Hanna uses restraint, nuance and delicacy to create this intriguing portrait.

 

                                                                                                            Green with Envy

Radiating an entirely different mood, this portrait of two women captures their experience, intense focus and tension. Their body language embodies a certain defiance through their tight lips, the upwardly tilted, forward-thrusted chin, the folded arms, and their intent gaze (especially of the leftmost woman). These ladies are not smiling or relaxed but looking at something they are measuring closely. The artist enhances the sense of emotional intensity through the agitated texture of the background and, indeed, of the figures themselves. The dark background and muted colors only heighten this sense of tension. The viewer is not meant to be comfortable when looking at this dual portrait…and is left to wonder what they see that makes them “green with envy.”

 

 Corner Window

By contrast, the seated man in Corner Window projects a sense of assurance and confidence.  He looks directly at the viewer, faintly smiling and is obviously “comfortable in his own skin.” The bookshelves and window, provide him with a visually interesting setting – visually lively, yet not distracting. It’s a cozy, bright and inviting corner in which he sits. Hanna also demonstrates her virtuosity with color in the shadings and multiple hues which infuse his jeans and his “white” shirt with dimension and interest.

 

Ingenue

Hanna’s Ingenue further demonstrates the artist’s insight and skill as a portrait artist. The subject is a young woman, clothed in a classic black evening dress and looking off into the distance with a curious, open glance. She is relaxed, poised and leaning back comfortably against the gold drapery of the couch.  Hanna’s skill is evident in the beauty of the skin tones set off against the gold drapery or the black dress, the sheen of the bent elbow, the shadows under the jawline and even in the artist’s ability to paint black hair luminous against a black background.  Fine compositional details intrigue the eye - such as the bit of turquoise upholstery showing through under the left elbow or the flowers in the center distance (which provide the perfect balance to the commanding image of the woman in the foreground.) It is a portrait which intrigues the viewer with its richness and beauty – not to mention the mystery of that open, curious glance to the side.

 Annette Adrian Hanna graduated from Centenary College and studied art at the Art Students’ League, the Traphagen School of Illustration and Design and then privately with a variety of leading artists.  She has had 9 solo exhibitions, multiple group exhibitions and has won a large number of awards for her work in portraiture and landscapes in both pastels and oils. The recipient of three gold medals in painting, Hanna was recently chosen as a finalist out of 3,000 entries, in both the portrait and landscape categories, of a national pastel competition. She has written a book on painting portraits in oil, and was included in The Best of Pastels II, published in 1999. Her work has been widely exhibited, collected and featured in various magazines and books on oils and pastels. In addition, Hanna has participated in juried exhibitions in China and Japan and conducted pastel and oil workshops in Switzerland, Italy and Panama. She teaches at Morris County and Somerset Art Associations and is a member of Blackwell St. Center for the Arts, Cerulean Gallery, the Pastel Society of America, and the American Artist's Professional League. “I love the act of painting, whether it be in oils or pastel. Painting people has always been a challenge and a fascination. Conveying a mood and suggesting inner thoughts, has always been the goal when painting portraits or figures in a situation. Every individual is different with his/her own inner life. Landscape and still life are also wonderful subjects. There is much beauty in nature and it is a joy to go out and paint it.”

 Ms. Hanna maintains a fine art studio at 6 Overlook Rd., in Boonton Township and can be reached at (973) 316-0857 or through www.blackwell-st-artists.org.