Artist Bio

Anna Todaro Born: July 30, 1981 at 3:01:30PM in Chicago, Illinois

Anna (leo, scorpio rising, leo moon) lives and works in her studio in
Portland, Oregon with her Boyfriend Patrick and her two Lhaso Apsa dogs.

Anna is currently a self-represented artist.
She currently is showing and selling her work in many venues around Portland
as well as in galleries in New York and Northern California.
Anna is also the curator of her own gallery, the Core.
Anna also spends a bit of her time volunteering at other local galleries and art organizations like the Launchpad and the 100th Monkey Studios.

I am a creative being who has come to this specific time and place to bring as much
from where I came as I can to the best of my abilities.

the Beautiful and Strange

I do not currently and may never fully understand the meanings behind my paintings. They are intuitive.
I do know that with every piece I make, I am pushing my mind as far as I
can into the unknown to bring back this raw material from as far as I can reach. It
may all be my own mental garbage, it may be messages from ancient whales, it may
be a mix of both. One thing is certain though, I will continue making more paintings
and I am certain I will continue to improve as I go along.

Each piece is jam packed with vibrant colors
to make your heart sing. Her palettes are inspiring,
making all of the organic shapes undulate and float across
the canvas as if part of a symphony. Each one has its own
personality and mood. The imagery feels almost like looking
through a microscope at another world.

-Michelle Caplan

exressways and cornfields

Anna grew up in the western Chicago suburbs
in a big blue house in a cornfield,
surrounded by two eight lane expressways the 290 and 355 with cement sidewalls.

Anna is the daughter of Pam a loyal primary school teacher of over 30 years
and Dean a nationally acclaimed tax advisor/CPA.
Anna also has two older brothers, Larry a sound engineer and
Howie a professional Cubs fan who is still living with the fallout of childhood rhabdomyosarcoma.

Anna has always been very imaginative,
spending much of her time in artistic creation.
Anna did not spend much time painting until high school,
when she discovered her ability to paint like the masters.
Anna has been painting ever since.

Somehow, I think being from the Suburbs of the Midwest of America,
and having a sibling with special needs, engrained in me an immunity to the traditional cultural ladder.
It has never been a priority of mine to fit in and I have always viewed that as a strength of mine.
Perhaps this is even why I am so drawn to make such beautiful, yet hiddeous and strange, creatures with my artwork.
Maybe I am even, in a way, re-making my own definitions of beauty and beautiful.



anna in her studio

Exhibitions

2008
Group Show, Genuine Artikle Gallery and Boutique, Lake Ronkonkoma, New York
Live Painting, Keep a Breast, Portland, Oregon
Solo Show, the Tin Shed, Portland, Oregon
2 Girl Show with Nicole Linde, Vino Paradiso, Portland, Oregon
Solo Show, Pop Culture Shop, Portland, Oregon
Solo Show, Fissure Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Group Show: In Bloom, Urban Grind, Portland, Oregon
Solo Show, North Star Coffee, Portland, Oregon
Group Show, Show and Tell Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Featured Artist, the 100th Monkey Studio, Portland, Oregon
Group Show, Love, the Launchpad, Portland, Oregon
2007
Solo Show at the Launchpad, Portland, Oregon
Group Show at the Portland Art Center, Panels, Portland, Oregon
Group Show, Secrets, at the Launchpad, Portland, Oregon
Group Show at the Everett Station Courtyard, Portland, Oregon
Group Show at Noir, Arts Intergrity, Portland, Oregon
Solo Show at the Tin Shed Cafe, Portland, Oregon
Group Show, Voyeur, the Core, Portland, Oregon

2006
Solo Show, Weretiger, Portland, Oregon
Two Girl Show, Vino Paradiso, Portland, Oregon
Solo Show, Flying Rabbit Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Group Show, Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2 Girl Show, The Goodfoot, Portland, Oregon
Solo Show, NOIR Portland, Oregon

2005
Solo Show, Joes Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Group Show, Rake, Voluer, Portland, Oregon
Group Show, Rake, PALA, Portland, Oregon
Rake Art, Portland, Oregon
Group Show, Backspace 2X2, Portland, Oregon

2004 Solo Show, The Whitney Gallery, DeKalb, Illinois
Group Show, Jack Arends Gallery, DeKalb, Illinois
Group Show, ARS NOVA Juried Exhibition, DeKalb, Illinois
Group Show, Artists Against AIDS, Champagne, Illinois

2003 2 Girl Show, The Glass Gallery, DeKalb, Illinois
Solo Show, Whitney Gallery, DeKalb, Illinois
Group Show, Chicago Art Open, Chicago, Illinois
Group Show, Medicine Man Gallery, Rockford, Illinois
Group Show, Water, Lincoln Highway, DeKalb, Illinois
Group Show, ARS NOVA Juried Exhibition, DeKalb, Illinois

Volunteer

the Launchpad Gallery, 2007-present
the 100th Monkey Studio, 2007-Present
the Portland Art Center, 2007

Teaching/Lectures

the 100th Monkey Studio, Beginning Acrylics, 2007
the 100th Monkey Studios, Connections, 2008

Learning more every day

Anna graduated with a BFA from Northern Illinois University in 2004 and has studied
for a semester at the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Lorenzo di Medici Academy in Florence Italy.
Anna discovered she was a painter in high school, when she discovered her
ability to replicate and re-interpret artworks from older masters like DaVinci and
Michelangelo. Anna has been painting ever since.


I do not use pigments, grounds, or finishes which have been known to yellow
or crack over time.