Anne Torry-Ballou
Cape Cod Painter
Artist Statement of Methodology
“My work is influenced by the early impressionist’s love of light and color and capturing a moment. I work primarily with acrylic paint, and try to create moments of visual perception and emotion on canvas as experienced in nature. I use photographs to document place holders and to stimulate the memory of the scene. A chiaroscuro sketch is made on the canvas using burnt and raw sienna and burnt and raw umber. Then I attempt to infuse the work with the light and color by multiple applications of paint, often first with anticipation, followed by frustration and finally, a moment of fulfillment.”
Biography and Artist’s Statement
“It is truly a joy for me when someone sees my work and connects to the moment I attempted to capture.” Anne Torry-Ballou
From the time she was a child, Anne Torry-Ballou wanted to be an artist. Family outings into woods, fields, hills, along streams and rivers and the shores of several states, imbedded a love and respect for nature. Respected art teachers in school taught her to look at the world and notice lights and shadows, color hues and compliments, depth and perspective. Early lessons in art history gave her insight into the world of painting, and she was specifically drawn to the work of the French Impressionists.
She wanted to pursue travel and painting. But her pragmatic side resulted her decision to choose studies in Liberal Arts rather than an art school for her postsecondary education. This choice resulted in fourteen-year career in the financial world of New York City as a Project Director in Operations Analysis and Redesign.
Torry-Ballou continued to draw, paint and take art classes throughout her career in Finance. Eventually an opportunity to retire from corporate life enabled her to have a studio (Beau Cadeau) built next to her home in Connecticut. Inspired by Connecticut’s woodlands and rolling hills, she began to concentrate on creating landscapes, exhibiting her work widely in New Haven and Fairfield Counties. “Flowers, mountains, the sea or trees, are constant sources of inspiration. I am always awed by the natural world. In the studio I want to interpret what I have seen and felt, and capture the light, color, emotion and energy of that moment in nature.”
Torry-Ballou and her husband moved to West Falmouth, Massachusetts in 2011 and this afforded her the opportunity to build another studio and to offer her work through The Gallery on Main in Falmouth and local shows, develop a following and enlarge her base for commissions. She states that Cape Cod’s many beaches, beautiful gardens and protected natural resources such as ponds, marshes, woods, farms and fields all contribute to inspiration.
Working almost exclusively with acrylic paint, with occasional forays into water color studies, she uses photographs as references to document place holders in the development of the work. A chiaroscuro sketch on the canvas is made using burnt and raw sienna, white, and burnt and raw umber. The work is developed with an eye toward capturing light, shadows, color and energy by applying color in layers of paint and glazes.
While her recent work is primarily landscapes and seascapes, she also creates floral paintings and will occasionally step away from her primary area of focus to do an unusual commission. Her work is held in many private collections through purchases from her shows in Connecticut, The Gallery on Main, shows on Cape Cod, in-studio sales and private commissions.
“Crane Wildlife Morning”, 12” x 24”, original acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, SOLD
Selected Exhibits
2025 Winter Art Transformation, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
Hot Hues, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
Autumn Juried Exhibit, Falmouth Art Center, Falmouth, MA
Featured Artist, Gallery on Main, Falmouth, MA
2024 Above & Below, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
Featured Artist, Gallery on Main, Falmouth, MA
Shimmer, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
2023 Featured Artist, Gallery on Main, Falmouth, MA
Summer Juried Exhibition, Falmouth Art Center, Falmouth, MA
Selected Works, Gallery on Main, Falmouth, MA
2021-2022 Flowers, Nature’s Beacons of Hope, Gallery on Main, Falmouth, MA
Blur, Falmouth Art Center, Falmouth, MA
Color and Light, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
Piece by Piece 2022, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit MA
2020 “Hope”, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit MA
Curator & Participating Artist – 60/60 – Over Sixty Pieces of Art by Women Over Sixty,
Highfield Hall & Gardens, Falmouth, MA
Piece by Piece 2020, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
2019 Featured Artist, The Gallery on Main, Falmouth, MA
“Transitions”, Falmouth Art Center, Falmouth, MA
Featured Artist, The Gallery on Main, Falmouth, MA
West Falmouth Library Show, West Falmouth, MA
Piece by Piece 2019, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
2018 “Red”, Chapman Art Gallery, Cotuit, MA
“Bloom”, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
Featured Artist, Gallery on Main, Falmouth, MA
Seasonal Palette, Falmouth Art Center, MA
2011-2017 One Woman Show, Maser Gallery, FCTV, Falmouth, MA
Art Because…Three Women, The Artful Way Gallery, Cataumet, MA
Small Works, Sigel Gallery, Falmouth Art Center, Falmouth, MA
Piece by Piece 2017, large scale collaborative installation, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit MA
Members’ Shows, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
Juried Summer Show, Falmouth Arts Guild, Falmouth, MA
1995-2011 Pequot Library Arts Shows, Southport, CT
APW Gallery, World of Imagination Vol.2 Show, Long Island City, NY
The Nature Discovery Center Shows, Westport, CT
Solo Show – Exploring Tranquility through Light & Color, Stamford Town Mall, Stamford, CT
Annual Burr Homestead Art Shows, Fairfield, CT
Solo Show – New Landscape Paintings by the Artist – Tazza Cafe, Fairfield, CT
Westport Art Center Annual Members’ Open Shows, Westport, CT The 67th Annual Connecticut Women Artists Open Juried Show, New Haven, CT
Education
Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT – Bachelor of Arts
Silvermine School of Art, New Canaan, CT – Various Courses
Awards
1996 Award of Excellence, Manhattan Arts International
1997 Award of Merit, Manhattan Arts International
Memberships
Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
Falmouth Arts Guild, Falmouth, MA
The Gallery on Main, Falmouth, MA