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I have been chasing creative ventures for most of my life. I picked up a guitar and started writing music before I was 12, performing in a variety of genres and settings through young adulthood. Forced, like most people, to get a “real job,” I sought out creative activities in my spare time: needlepoint, knitting, crochet, embroidery, cross stitch, sewing, scrapbooking, and all kinds of gardening. I never considered myself an “artist” because I was that kid who couldn’t draw accurately or color inside the lines. In 2020 my daughter gave me a subscription to Sketchbox, a monthly bonanza of visual art materials and accompanying lessons on how to use them, and lo and behold I discovered that those skills were not necessary to create visual art. 

I LOVE color and fell in love with watercolors because of the range of colors and textures I could create with them. I began painting cards for family and friends. Upon retiring from teaching elementary school (a job that required creativity on a daily basis!), I decided to go “all in” on art, the results of which you will see here. I’ve come to realize, in my senior moments, that it’s never too late to start something new, to learn and grow, or to change direction. I live outside Raleigh, NC, with my creative husband and goofy terrier, Hudson, and am very lucky to have all three of my adult children living nearby.

I hope my art brings you some joy and inspires you to step out into something new, because it is

NEVER TOO LATE!

XO- Ann-Marie Taranto

Inspiration: Lake Como, April, 2024