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Anita Gallagher sees the world in texture and color. Her use of rich textures and colors in her paintings and in her garden are vibrant testimony that she sees new life in the rebirth of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Anita has been painting for about 36 years and primarily works in oils, acrylics and watercolors. Her paintings and limited-edition prints are in private and corporate collections in the United States and abroad. Shortly after Katrina, she was juried into the 1 learts for Arts show held at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas and the Hancock Arts show in Washington, D.C.
1 ler love of nature as reflected in the garden she has created at her new home in Waveland is the inspiration for many of her paintings. Anita’s memories of the Gulf Coast prior to Katrina, coupled with her unconditional belief in the future of the area, made pelicans a compelling choice as the subject of her painting for the Bay of St. Louis Bridge. “The pelican has long been a symbol of Bay St. Louis and they all vanished after Katrina. In fact, all of the birds, both shore birds and song birds, disappeared, and their absence was one reason for the eerie silence that haunted the landscape for weeks after the storm.”
The return of the pelicans and other birds was a precursor to the return of hope on the Gulf Coast for Anita Gallagher and others who appreciate the beauty and comedy that the birds bring to life along the Coast. “1 live just a few doors from the beach allowing me to watch the brown pelicans soar overhead before diving into the water head first for fish. When there were no pelicans, there was a hole in Bay St. Louis. When the birds returned, hope returned.”