Welcome to Studio Bliss, the official website for painter Annie Horkan. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Appalachian Landscapes • Baja • Blue Visions • Floral • Interiors • Moon Roses • Southwest • Tribute to Venus • Tropical • Tuscany
Bliss is following your heart. I remember when I first heard the words of the great, late Joseph Campbell when he said “follow your bliss”. Those words jolted me. I thought, how can it be that this wise, well read scholar and teacher is giving us permission to do such a thing? My experience at that point seemed convincing that my life path was being decided for me by the laws and institutions of society. I was being groomed to fit in and find my proper place. The idea that I could “follow my bliss” set my soul free and on fire. I could be anyone I wanted to be, I could do anything I wanted to do, I could create my own reality, think my own thoughts, paint my own pictures, work when and however I wanted and be happy. [Keep reading...]
The prolific painting career of Annie Horkan began at the University of Virginia after twice failing her calculus exam for a major in Environmental Science. In search of a new major, she wandered over to the Arts Department, sat in on a watercolor class, picked up a brush and has never put it down. Although her art career was put on hold to raise two sons, Annie continued to paint, completing over seventy paintings before her firstborn was a year old. In 1992, after returning to the exquisite countryside of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Annie began to paint full time. It was here that she named her studio after discovering her farm was once a small community called “Bliss.” Continue reading…
