I have been an artist all my life. Friends remember me as the class artist as early as 3rd grade. My love of nature, children, and landscapes inspires me every day. I studied fine arts at Ohio University and the University of Maryland, receiving a BA in art education and winning first place in the student show in1965.

Ann Crane Harlan

I taught Art for several years at an exclusive private school, Gibson Island Country School, and raised my family all the while using art as a creative outlet. I continued my studies of art and especially watercolor at Montgomery College and attended the prestigious William Gerhold workshops in West Virginia and Maryland.

I began exhibiting and started my own house portrait business "I'll Sketch Your House" about 25 years ago. I have had no unhappy customers in all those years of hundreds of commissions. I created a way of composing a scene using torn and cut paper glued to a background instead of paint. My collages are paper images using the paper for color and design, adding a whimsical nature to the piece. Shows of my collages and watercolors in the Annapolis, Maryland area included: 49 West, and Maria's Picture Place, and a one woman show at Quiet Water's Park.

After relocating to Maryland's Eastern Shore, I studied watercolor with artist John Pringle as I continued teaching art at a private school. I am a member of the Queen Anne's County Arts Council and the Kent Island Federation of Art and regularly exhibit in their area shows. Now retired, I have more time for my artwork.

Recent honors include: 1st place for watercolor Chesapeake College Annual Show 2007, 2nd place for collage (same show), 3rd place Kent Island Federation of Art for collage 2007, Best In Show and 1st place for collage 2000 Chesapeake College Annual Show, 1st place watercolor 1989 Kent Island Federation of Art.