Minneapolis-based artist, Annie Hejny, is inspired by water. She is most well-known for her acrylic paintings in her notable Water series, where she incorporates collected water and sediment from various freshwater sources in Minnesota and beyond. These atmospheric and stunning Water series paintings bring to life the artist’s desire to “paint water”. Annie describes the many steps of her uniquely creative technique:

“My process begins by respectfully gathering water and sediment from the shorelines of lakes and rivers. Returning to my studio, I pour the collected materials with acrylic paint over canvas to emulate the natural erosion and flow of the water. I then brush thin layers of resonant color over the dried texture to express the movement, mood and surface reflections that I observe at the shoreline. Every time I dip my paintbrush in collected water, I connect with its source. This connection flows onto the canvas, creating a painting that realizes our relationship with water.

The physicality of collecting and incorporating such materials is a critical part of how I embody and translate what nature is telling me.”—Annie Hejny

*******************************************************************************Annie Hejny has exhibited in numerous regional venues including the Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of St. Thomas, Phipps Center for the Arts, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, and salonlb., Chicago. Her largest solo exhibition to-date—at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum — received over 10,000 visitors. Hejny’s artwork is held in private collections around the world, as well as in over thirty states and public collections, including Minnesota Museum of American Art, Minnesota Vikings Art Collection, Target Corporation, Hilton Corporation and Minnesota Marine Art Museum. She has completed over 70 commissioned projects for collectors, galleries and public institutions, locally and nationwide, partnering with Valerio Dewalt Train, Eaton Fine Art, University of Minnesota Mill City Clinic, Art & Field, and more. She has held numerous artist-in-residences, and received a 2020 Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. She is a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, and training to become a certified Minnesota Water Steward with the Freshwater program and the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization.