Anji Grainger

Anji Grainger | Watercolor Instructor

Anji is an award winning watercolorist and instructor. Former President of the Watercolor Society of Oregon, member of the Painters Showcase, Lake Area Artists and on the board for the Oregon Society of Artists, her paintings have been awarded five People’s Choice Awards for their choice of best in the show. She has also received many additional awards in juried shows including first, third, fourth, Honorable Mentions and Awards of Distinction. In 1984, Anji began painting in acrylic medium and in the 1990’s she painted, taught and studied under two acrylic artists. Anji studied in oil in 2002 and 2003 under the direction of Portland oil painter David Selleck. In April and May of 2006 she studied in watercolor at the Scuola Leonardo di Vinci in Florence, Italy, under Patrizio Gervasoni, a contemporary Italian artist. Then in April of 2008 she returned to Europe to study “plein air” techniques in Provence, France under internationally recognized Italian artist, Francesco Fontana, returning again in 2012 to study with him in Sicily, Italy.

Anji’s work derives its inspiration from the magic and wonders of nature. She is drawn to see and focus on what might not be seen or noticed. Her drawing instructor, acclaimed Portland artist Gene Flores, helped her understand the importance of not suppressing what comes from within. Anji paints with the movement of nature and visualizes the growing twists and turns of a twig or a leaf. She tries to capture the stillness of an early morning walk in a field, along a river or in a forest. She also focuses on detail whether it’s simply the blending or bleeding of two colors like one would see on a ripening peach or the finite lines and edges of a raindrop. Her current explorations are in the discovery of how elements of nature and texture react in watercolor to leave beautiful patterns and surprises.

Anji’s hope is that the viewer will walk away from seeing her work with a new vision and perhaps wonder, how does she do that?