Coulter's studio practice focuses on the landscape in which she lives. Though its subtle beauty is often overlooked, the Midwestern landscape provides a generous conduit to a deeper understanding of what it means to be present in the world. Artist Statement: I am forever watching the local midwestern landscape with unwavering fascination. As a subject, it is both generous and daunting in immensity and complexity. It can shift dramatically from moment to moment, all the while holding true to underlying timeless cycles and patterns, day in and day out. In my work I try to find connections to this overwhelming landscape by considering it as a microcosm, narrowing the subject to something singular and intimate, where the viewer is invited into a particular place to be surrounded by it, immersed.My paintings and drawings are visual investigations of such intentionally realized places. I am interested in seeing deeply into the tangle of nature, teasing out the multi-layered details to know and understand some of the beauty and wisdom to be found beyond a quick glance or casual assumption.Each painting provides an opportunity to extend and reinforce these fleeting visual experiences. As I paint my way through a particular location I learn about it on countless levels, making discoveries that would otherwise go unnoticed and unimagined. I intentionally slow down, savoring a world full of wonder and deeper meanings, interpreting each ordinary little place as something astonishing; completely unique yet also universal. Ann E. Coulter is a life-long resident of Illinois, raised in Joliet and currently living near Elmwood. She earned a BS degree with a studio concentration from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, an MA degree in painting and drawing from San Diego State University in San Diego, California, and an MFA degree in drawing from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. She has been drawing and painting the Midwestern landscape for over 30 years and is deeply committed to articulating the subtle yet indelible beauty that defines this part of the country. She has intentionally chosen to live in the middle of the rural, prairie landscape she loves, surrounded by farm fields with a panoramic view of the horizon. In such a place the significance of the landscape is impossible to ignore.Coulter taught drawing classes at Bradley University for many years, and now maintains a fulltime studio practice in her home. She has had numerous solo exhibitions and has participated in a variety of group exhibitions throughout the country. Her drawings and paintings have been placed in many private and corporate collections, including Illinois State Museum in Springfield, OSF Health Care Systems in Peoria, Illinois, Millbrook Academy (New York), Sinclair Oil (Texas), Wichita Center for the Arts (Kansas).