A dash of contemporary elegance, natural outgoing charm, and a touch of bohemian chic describe author and artist Anne-Marie Esson. She lives to capture the inspiration she finds all around her and to apply it to her art. Anne-Marie is a prolific artist and painting instructor. She teaches local and national workshops with her inspiring approach and expressive painting style. Her how-to painting series, Painting with Anne-Marie, debuted on national Public Television in 2007.

Anne-Marie’s art career began at age 12, when she started organizing and teaching a neighborhood arts and crafts camp. At 16, she worked as a caricaturist at an amusement park. College summers were spent working at a five-star restaurant, where her job was to arrange food on plates artistically. She was awarded the Kellwood Art & Design Scholarship at Washington University School of Fine Art and graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

In 1992, she began forging her real career with Anne-Marie Esson Design & Art, a niche firm that showcased her original art on corporate communications and specialty items. Clients included Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins Transplant Center, The Kennedy Krieger Institute, and the State of Maryland. In tandem with the design end of the business, Anne-Marie earned fine art commissions for memorial tributes, cityscapes, and commemorative projects. After more than 10 years of using her art to promote other people’s businesses, she re-focused her company’s energies and began marketing the Anne-Marie Esson signature art style through licensing and other platforms. In 2004, Anne-Marie Esson, LLC was formed. Anne-Marie is a member of Oil Painters of America and the Portrait Society of America.