“Goddess Within” Artist Puts Mark Upon the Open Sky

By Kara Dicker

Anne Molasky was among the St. Louis-area painters highlighted at the recent national juried RepreSENSATATIONAL show. Her featured work, Goddess in the Making, is part of her evolving Goddess Within series of large-scale portraits that explore feminine strength and empowerment within a natural setting.

Goddess in the Making, Oil on Canvas, by Anne Molasky

Goddess in the Making, oil on canvas, 44”x44”, depicts a young girl with an arresting stare as she appears from within a forest illuminated by the light and shadow play of the oncoming dusk.  Her hair is wild, entwined in feathers. Her hands hold an owlet. Adding to the bird’s symbolic associations with wisdom and intuition is the presence of a mother owl looking down from a nearby tree. The girl has been entrusted, as the mother owl allows her to hold her baby.

“The inspiration revolves around the importance of raising girls to gain wisdom as they grow and become confident, independent humans,“ Molasky said, adding that it is crucial “to maintain the ability to be playful, spirited, and learn that being trustworthy is just as important as being cautious. The painting is about raising a goddess.”

A mother of two daughters, Molasky said that the Goddess Within series is based on dreams for the daughters of the world. “I choose to use my life experience as a woman and as a mother to speak visually through painting, empowering women and elevating them to the level of respect and honor they deserve.”

The ongoing Goddess Within series is what the artist works on “between paintings” amid a busy schedule of commission work, primarily in portraiture. Molasky also has worked as a mural artist as well as a scenic painter for theatre.  Additionally, she teaches, gives workshops and participates in Plein Air competitions.

Describing her style as Expressive Impressionism, Molasky’s approach often couples the looser, more expressive brushwork born from painting Alla Prima with the meticulous, careful drawing aspect of the execution. Her resulting landscape paintings are as vibrant and dramatic as her Goddess Within works are intense and revealing. Her painting influences include impressionist John Singer Sargeant, portrait artist Nicolai Fechin and luminist Juaquin Sorolla.

When it comes to choosing sites for landscape painting, light guides the artist’s path. “It is almost always the light that inspires me to pick my subject, or my decision on composition," she said. One place she particularly enjoys painting is around Augusta, in St. Charles County. “There is always something to inspire me,” she said, “from rolling hills, expansive views, variety of landscape, wood, water and open sky.”

Sunflower Hill Farm Silos, by Anne Molasky and Kimberly Alsop

This fall, visitors to the Augusta area can see Molasky’s artistry upon the open sky. She partnered with muralist Kimberly Alsop to enliven three abandoned silos along the Katy Trail between Defiance and Augusta. The silos stand on what is now Sunflower Hill Farm. The owner commissioned the artists to paint sunflowers upon the 40’ cylindrical concrete block structures. Molasky said that she welcomed the opportunity to use her experience as a mural artist and theatrical set painter. She also welcomed the challenges of the project, which required the artists to work from a motorized lift, wear safety gear and paint in the extreme heat of summer.

“The Sunflower Hill Farm Silo mural proved to be a difficult kind of challenge due to its scale and curved surface,” she said. “We often had to swing the lift back to see where we were in our design. The sunflowers are larger than we are!”

The project, which took six weeks to complete, was finished in September.