My work explores the inner world, the space where memory, emotion, and imagination intersect. It's inspired by landscapes I've experienced, vivid dreams, and the quiet transformations we experience as we move through major life transitions. Working primarily in watercolor and mixed media, I build layered, dreamlike scenes that blur the line between what's real and what's imagined, familiar and otherworldly at once.
Some of my earliest moments of wonder happened in the woods near my childhood home. When home felt chaotic, nature was where I went to find magic, presence, and purpose. That sense of refuge has stayed with me into adulthood, and making art now feels like being hugged by those elusive memories while recapturing lightning in a bottle.
The women who appear throughout embody feelings, experiences, memories, and lessons learned, and many of them are inspired in appearance by my late mother. The landscapes around them are based on places I’ve lived and traveled, drawn from reference photos, mood boards, and notes I take along the way. I work between structure and spontaneity, documenting what was physically there and how it felt to be there at the same time.
My process is detailed and meditative. I build each piece up in many layers of watercolor, and finish with pastel, ink, and gouache for texture and added depth. Though my work often carries an undercurrent of mystery and longing, it ultimately searches for moments of hope, connection, and transformation.
Because I'm a nurturer by nature, I believe our sense of mystery and magic deserves tending. Caring for my animals and the wildlife and fauna around my home reconnects me to that part of myself. In my art, I hope to nurture not only my own inner world but the inner worlds of others. Each piece is meant as a sanctuary, a place to reconnect with the experiences, memories, and passions that make up each of our individual fingerprints.
Biography
Anna Wise was born in Birmingham and has lived in Nashville since 2011. She is a self taught artist whose watercolor and mixed media paintings create inner worlds that blur the line between memory, dream, and nature. Through layered forms, symbolism, and atmosphere, her work explores themes of transition, liminality, hope, and transformation. She has participated in national solo and group exhibitions, including Lorenzo Swinton Gallery, Grand Bohemian Gallery, Monthaven Arts Center, and Cat Eye Creative, as well as established art fairs including The Other Art Fair and Superfine Art Fair. She was Graduate Hotels artist in residence in 2024, and artist in residence at Creston Arts Center in 2026.