Ann Kraft Walker Works

Ann Kraft Walker

 

Ann Kraft Walker

B    i    o    g    r    a    p    h    y

1955 -

Ann Kraft Walker was Texas born in 1955.  In 1977 she received a BFA in Art History at The University of Texas at Austin (a major she could accomplish without any math requirements). Later Ann moved to Germany for several years which provided the opportunity for extensive travel and many museum visits where her love for art deepened.  At The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Mrs. Walker distinctly remembers the desire to learn to paint washing over her.  However, Ann was busy raising three children and did not take up a paintbrush until her mid-forties.

Because of Ann’s love for antiques, she began painting in a primitive folk art style. Several of Mrs. Walker’s paintings appeared in various issues of Early American Life magazine.  In 1999 the First Lady was impressed with the folk artists in a traditional craftsmen issue of the magazine. By Presidential invitation, Ann had the opportunity to create a folk art oil painting to be part of the Blue Room Christmas decorations and to remain in the permanent collection of the White House. Later Ann received a second Presidential invitation to attend a reception at the White House for the artists who took part in creating the Christmas decorations that year.  

Mrs. Walker gradually lost interest in folk art and desired to learn about fine art instead. Ann fumbled along on her own for a few years, not painting much. Then in 2009, with an empty nest, she had a distinct turning point to pursue art seriously and leave folk art behind. Ann took her first workshop in 2010 and has since taken several more workshops, each of which have been extremely valuable.

“What a privilege to begin the never-ending pursuit of learning to paint.  Any shred of talent I possess is a gift from God and a reflection of His grace,” Ann says.

Mrs. Walker is a member of The Portrait Society of America, The International Guild of Realism, and a Signature Member of Oil Painters of America and National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society.