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Meet Ann McIntyre

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Ann McIntyre.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Ann. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Having a natural inclination to imagining beautiful worlds, it’s no wonder that moving to Japan at age 17 resonated enormously. From the minute I stepped onto the Japan Airlines flight, I felt seduced by a culture focused on aesthetics. I recall the flight attendant taking my shoes and replacing them with travel slippers and giving me a hot steamy towel to wash my hands with. Soft, but strange sounding music was playing, and the atmosphere was calm and hushed. The other passengers were so quiet: no one was talking! The food tasted unfamiliar, but it was so beautifully prepared that I had to try it all. Each dish came with a natural element… An orchid blossom or a piece of bamboo to eat with. Travel has changed much since that time, but the details of that flight stay with me.

Upon our arrival in Tokyo, we stayed for several weeks at the Imperial Hotel, where the seduction into Japanese culture continued. In the lobby was a large floral display… The likes of which I had never seen and could not have even imagined. It was both massive and dimensional… Full of branches from trees, berries, and oh, so many flowers. And the hotel had arrangements on every floor! The arrangements were tended, tweaked and changed regularly. They were breathtakingly gorgeous and an impactful introduction to a new form of luxury, based on the splendor inherent in nature.

Spatially, Japan is a very condensed place, and no one had what we would call a yard, but gardens appeared everywhere. Tiny blooming trees lived on the edge of urban fences. The lack of space seemed to drive people to the garden what space they had, however small. What an expansive metaphor for living: letting constraints push the creative edge.

And then there was the ceramics, a rich world that embraced irregularity, decay, pattern, texture, perfection and imperfection, organic shape and majestic vessels. I was drawn in and knew I had to pursue a course of study involving clay.

With a magical combination of luck and happenstance and I found an English-speaking porcelain master interested in having an American apprentice who could also teach his daughter English. Located in the Snow Country of Japan in Aizu Wakamatsu, Koichi Takita was the foremost porcelain artist at that time in Japan and the first apprentice of Living National Treasure Shoji Hamada.

The Aizu Wakamatsu chapter amazes me in hindsight. Living in a remote mountain village 5 hours north of Tokyo and dealing with long workdays followed by doing my own artistic output in the evenings made for an intense existence. We worked six days a week in a studio surrounded by rice fields on one side and mountains on the other, heated only by the wood stove we stoked.

After 1.5 years as an apprentice, health issues brought me back to Dallas: without which I may never have returned. And what did my parents think after all I had experienced by age 20? “Time to go to SMU.” Thankfully, SMU’s Studio Art Department embraced my experience and made a place for me there while assimilating back into American culture after nearly four years away.

By the end of college, I found myself at odds with my own intended path. A back injury kept me from pursuing ceramics further and I realized the ceramic world I was originally drawn to only exists in Japan. It was time to rethink and regroup. I needed to buy a car and so money seemed to be the next thing to focus on.

Although all my interests and inclinations were artistic, I had grown up in a corporate world via my father’s career, which helped me find a place in the selling side of the business. One job led to another and I landed in IT where I thrived for 22 years as a Strategic Account Executive.

I’m a big proponent of a variety of experiences and I have only good things to say about my time in corporate life. For sure, it was a man’s world and a tough environment to flourish in. Awards, trips, and financial compensation helped take the edge off of “working for the boys.” I’m glad now to have a deep understanding of business and when my former teammates and customers attend my art shows, I know I succeeded at the most important part: earning lifelong respect from those I worked with.

During my two-decade long career in IT, my creative juices were satisfied by immersing myself in studying ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. I studied the Sogetsu School which is the most progressive and international of the flower arranging schools and which values personal expression deeply. Although I became a teacher in that school, I have since evolved away from the structure of the school, but still, very much consider flower arranging as a core part of my artistic practice.

The creative drive cannot be suppressed and must be fulfilled. After a series of three immediate family deaths between my 42nd and 50th years, I knew it was time to orchestrate a way to pursue my artistic path. The Dallas County Community College District provided me with the education and skills I needed; I’ll always be thankful for the second chance to study art (at an affordable price point) and for the excellent instruction I received at both Brookhaven College and Cedar Valley College.

After my experience in Japan as an apprentice to a master artist, I knew I wanted to find a parallel situation here. I sought out artist Linda Ridgway after admiring her work and hearing her speak at Tally Dunn Gallery. Linda has the rare gift of being as extraordinary as a teacher as she is an artist, and my five years under her tutelage were transformative for me and my development as an artist.

I am thrilled for the various opportunities and recognition the last few years have brought: my initial gallery show at JM Gallery, winning the art in the Metroplex Best in Show, followed by a one woman show at Art7 Gallery in Ft Worth, along with participation in a number of competitive shows in New York juried by both Whitney Museum of American Art and MOMA curators. I hope one day I get to travel to Macau, China, to see the new MGM Cotai there with 17 of my images! The progression of my work can be viewed on my website: www.annmcintyre.com

Please tell us about your art.
I am an emerging artist creating works on paper, primarily with processes, techniques, and tools rooted in the medium of printmaking. Several different aesthetic avenues stay active in my work: Geometric Abstraction, with works created from found and discarded materials as well as (what I call) Botanical Abstraction, where I use actual plant material grown in my garden to create a new perspective of nature. In either avenue, the use of many layers of materials to create a sense of depth and mystery is a point of distinction.

Making original art will always be my primary focus, but in 2019, I began a new path: creating products from my images. It’s like coming full circle from my starting point in Japan, where all visual aspects of life are significant and matter, and where good design is part of everyday life. It’s quite thrilling to see my work transformed into the fabric and other materials/ formats and it’s energizing to create something everyone can afford and enjoy. I am currently pursuing this venture in partnership with Red Bubble and hope to find additional outlets or licensing opportunities. Please enjoy this link to my electronic storefront: https://mcintah.redbubble.com

The thing I feel the best about regarding my work is that it emphasizes the power and magic available to all of us if we cultivate our imaginations. In my work I take things I’ve grown or found and give them a second life via my layering process. It’s exhilarating to create lusciousness from something discarded in the alley… As a metaphorical path, this process can be applied across the globe to any aspect of life needing rejuvenation.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I spent my childhood fantasizing about being an interior designer or a chef. It’s interesting looking back at how sure I was about my interests. Hours went by with me reading magazines and imagining worlds I intended to create and live in, as well as the gorgeous food I wanted to cook and plate. By the way, creating a visually enticing plate and playing with my interior space and garden are still passions!

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
All images by Teresa Rafidi, except for the one taken in the living room with the metal work in the background, which I took.

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