Anne Austin Pearce, Marcus, mixed media on paper, 2006, 48” x 52”

Anne Austin Pearce, artist and director of the Greenlease Gallery of Art, often portrays people and life in nontraditional ways in her artwork. Such was the case when she was featured along with seven other Kansas City artists at the Milo Gallery in Los Angeles, April 26-May 24.

The show, KC to LA, included two of Pearce’s works, Marcus and Yellow African. In Marcus, Pearce used mixed media on paper to create a psychological landscape of her long-time friend and fellow painter, Marcus Cain.

Unlike traditional portraits where an outline is drawn of the form, she starts with a pure abstract wash, then adds layers of various media such as pen strokes or colored pencil. She describes her portraits as primarily abstract tethered with reality, and she plans to create a series using the same technique.

Pearce looks for inspiration from the people around her and the human condition to create her vision of contemporary art.

“I know they have felt pain, humor and love,” said Pearce. “Because they have formed opinions, I want to understand and visually reflect these observations.”

Pearce teaches drawing and painting classes and directs several students in independent study at the University. Her next show runs through July 23 at Byron Cohen Gallery in Kansas City, Mo.