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ABOUT ANN REA, INC.

Artist Ann Rea's Journey For many years before she started painting full time she suffered from chronic anxiety and depression. When Rea sums up her former experience of anxiety she states that "anxiety is in essence a preoccupation with the future and that depression is a fixation on the past." Ann Rea's creative mission is to "Savor the colors of the moment." Only a few years after graduating from a prestigious art school, Rea abandoned her creative career and she did not paint or draw once in over seven years. Ann Rea tried to establish a more practical career and found herself very well removed from her creativity. She tried pursuing several career paths in high tech, investing, disaster relief, and most recently project management consulting. Then she met two stage IV breast cancer survivors, one her own age. Their circumstances made her realize that life is too short to avoid pursuing her passion and purpose. With no intention of selling, or even showing her work, Rea started using painting as an active meditation to alleviate her anxiety. As a therapeutic experiment Rea directed her attention to a single focus while painting, color as an expression of light in the moment. This present mind practice proved to be a source of inspiration and healing. Ann Rea began painting serene still life in oils and then moved to plein air landscapes. The first vineyards she painted belonged to Dr. Harold Olmo, a grape breeder and viticulturist, who played a key role in the development of the California wine industry starting in the 1930s. With the encouragement of renowned painters Gregory Kondos and American art icon Wayne Thiebaud Rea became determined to make a living as a painter. At the very end of 2004 she made a bold move. Rea quit her job, sold her house, and moved to the beach in San Francisco to pursue her dream to paint full time. After Rea moved to San Francisco she knew that she would have to become artistically prolific in order to thrive. Ann began practicing neuro-feedback, medically aided meditation, to obtain optimal states of performance. Not accidently, Rea's collectors consistently comment that her paintings make them feel happy and calm. Artist Ann Rea's Blue Ocean Strategy® Ann Rea also knew that she had to quickly come up with a unique value proposition that served a target market to thrive in business so she created a blue ocean strategy. Rather than working with artist representatives Rea cultivated a direct following of private collectors and created an extraordinary "Experience of Art" that goes well above and beyond what art galleries offer collectors. This business savvy artist has painted in several of California's American Viticulture Areas, including: Los Carneros, Napa Valley, Livermore Valley, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma Valley, Dunnigan Hills, Alexander Valley, Yountville, Dry Creek, Shenandoah Valley and the Central Valley. Most recently Rea has also painted in the snowy mountains of Deer Valley, Utah. Artist Ann Rea's Creative Process Collectors select from the very best of Rea's field studies and they commission Rea to explore her naturally inspired colors on larger bespoke canvases, custom fit for example, their dining areas, yachts, or wine cellars. Her subjects, always inspired by nature, include not only vineyards, but also natural such as landscapes, private gardens, as well as large-scale contemporary still life. Rea's mediums include charcoal sketches on fine Arches French watercolor paper and pure oil on canvas that do not include turpentine or varnishes. This is the least toxic and greenest method of oil painting. Blending old and new world traditions, Rea paints colors inspired by sunlight. With the direct mentorship she received from contemporary painter Wayne Thiebaud (an American Art icon), she paints in the timeless tradition of French Impressionists like Monet, plein air (in the open air). Rea even uses the same oil pigments as Van Gogh from Old Holland Oil Works established in 1664. Collecting with Confidence Rea's work is gaining increasingly collectible status as it continues to be featured in the national media, most recently on "Fine Living" and NBC's "In Wine Country", and in The Wine Enthusiast and Fortune magazines. Read about her blue ocean business strategy in Career Renegade" by Jonathan Fields, published by Random House. Her talent is commended by Wayne Thiebaud (an American Art icon) and her work is acquired by a growing list of collectors and celebrities across the US, Canada, and Europe, including, Bob Proctor, host of the movie The Secret. Rea's book, "Colors of Terroir", a collection of her vineyard paintings, will be published next year. Ann Rea studied with, and was inspired by, the "American da Vinci" Viktor Schreckengost at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Established in 1882, it is one of the top ten professional colleges of art and design in the country. In 1987, she earned a degree in Industrial Design. Ann Rea is an active member of the: Concierge Alliance of Napa and Sonoma Valleys The Luxury Marketing Council - San Francisco Chapter Women and WineSense - Napa/Sonoma Chapter Ann Rea is a graduate of The Hoffman Institute. | Contact Us