My name is Anne Pollard James. I’m a figurative painter, and I paint the spectacular strength of women.

 

My current project explores the powerful act of reclamation. As women, we’re so often asked to cover, shrink, or camouflage our bodies. And yet, based on what we see on screens, you’d never know that real skin has scars, pores, and texture. That the body is both mysterious and deeply pragmatic.

The very things that make us capable—our fascia, our strength, our curves—are the things most often filtered out. Our legs, shaped by muscle and layered with cellulite, carry us forward. Our faces fall with gravity, then lift into radiant smiles that light up everything around us. Our bellies rise and fall, streaked with the soft peach-blue marks that remind us we expand to hold all that we carry.

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This new series is about honoring all of that. All of who we are.

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For those who’d like to join me, my hope is to meet women exactly where they are. Together, we’ll create a photograph—one that captures a moment of joy or delight. From that image, I’ll create a painting.

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These paintings are the red thread of this new body of work—works that center your delight, your strength, your story.

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Will you join me?