ANN HOLDER

   Ann Holder is a Professional Photo Realism Painter in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. She and her husband moved to the Highland’s area in 2021 and marvel at the stunning beauty of the mountains and gracious welcome they’ve received by the charming residents. She and her husband made the short leap to Highlands from Hendersonville, NC. Her husband, Todd Holder, is the financial advisor at Edward Jones on Main St., Highlands.

   Ann has been creating “something artistic” all her life. She remembers as a child having an enormous box of color crayons in all shapes and sizes and a healthy supply of coloring books and drawing paper. She also had the biggest tin of watercolors given to her by her brother upon his return from Vietnam. She was about 7 years old at that time.

  As she grew up she loved doing crafts of all kinds- string art, play-doh, shrinky-dinks (remember those?), jewelry making, knitting and crocheting. In college she specialized in studio art with a concentration in oil and acrylic painting at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She also excelled in drawing and enjoyed pottery. She has always had a passion to try it all!

Shortly after college she had the joy of raising a family, living in various places in the US, homeschooling her three children, and teaching art classes to children of all ages. Arts and crafts were a wonderful outlet for her and a small source of income during that time.

  Later, when she and Todd married, his support and encouragement enabled her to continue to pursue her passion in art. In 2012 she opened the Holder Fine Art Studio in Hendersonville, NC. Her studio is dedicated to honoring God with her work in colored pencil, pastel, watercolor, acrylic and oil painting. Her faith is the foundation of her work.

  As a realism artist, Ann strives to capture the emotion and unique characteristics of each of her subjects enabling her to make them as “life-like” as possible. She realizes that paper and pencil can not compare to the One who makes the real, living, thing! She believes each of us is a one-of- a-kind work of art. Part of her process of creating photo-realistic pieces is applying layer upon layer of medium, refining the content with each layer.

  Her greatest reward as an artist is in creating memorial portraits for those who’ve experienced a loss in their lives. She’s always moved by the stories she hears of how a beloved someone or a sweet family pet has impacted the lives of her clients. She finds her thoughts, prayers, heart, and occasionally tears, are incorporated into her drawings or paintings from these stories. Her future plans include writing and illustrating a picture book offering hope for the broken hearted of all age demographics.

  Ann is currently putting together a body of work entitled, “Woodland Series” featuring many of the forest animals and flora of North Carolina. The original works, prints and greeting cards are available at Jeanie Edwards Fine Art Gallery in Highlands, NC.

Artist Website: annholderart.com Facebook and Instagram: Ann Holder Art Email: holderfineartstudio@gmail.com