Ten of my favorite things
Anne Sutherland
Winner of our "Summer Arts Guide" cover competition
With a fun personality and red complexion, Anne (Butler) Sutherland's harbor scene (shown above) is a real chip off the old block.

Anne Butler Sutherland at her Orange Street studio. Behind her is "Thoroughly Summer," the painting that won our "Summer Arts Guide" cover competition.

"I was commissioned by a Texas company, TruCo, to paint something that was going to be on the bag of a new tortilla chip," Sutherland remembered. "The company decided that Nantucket had such a connotation of 'natural' and 'everything good,' and they found me on the Internet and decided to call the product 'Anne's Nantucket.'"

In the fall of 2005, the company asked that the painting contain red flowers and a "happy, windy" blue Nantucket sky.

An oil painter and Artists' Association of Nantucket member, Sutherland created "Thoroughly Summer," only to be left with it after the company killed the chip.

She entered it into our competition for the cover of the "Summer Arts Guide"; the breezy, windy, blue-sky harbor scene will again be a symbol of our island, as the front of our special glossy publication this season.

So we thought it would be nice to give you a little bit more on the artist behind the image, a landscape and lighthouse painter who has been doing more still lifes, and will be showing at Old South Gallery this weekend.

TEN OF ANNE'S FAVORITE THINGS:

1. My artist kids: Amanda, 29, a shoe designer and son Seth, 32, a parttime oil painter. Both kids live in an artist's world and I love speaking, sharing the language with them. Our home was always in the midst of something artistic, like decorating cookies or making something - I'm glad to know it inspired them.

2. Jim. Whatever we're doing together - holding hands, reading, cooking or watching a movie - it feels wonderful and special. I am filled with immense gratitude for his support and love. He is the best!

3. Painting in my studio to Eva Cassidy's music. I discovered Eva's music and love singing with her in two-part harmony.

4. Dancing to anything with a good beat. I love to Contra Dance at the big festivals where hundreds of dancers are in synch with the music. From Swing Dance to the beat of Zero Seven, it's all good.

5. Madaquecham Valley in September. I love the sound of the valley after the buzz of summer. My favorite painting spot is the long view toward the water. When I am painting there I feel there is nowhere else on earth I would rather be.

6. An evening with good friends around the dining room table enjoying a good meal and conversation. I am surrounded by terrific friends here - Gayle, Christine, Lou and Elizabeth, to name a few. The people who settle here are special and I look forward to forming more friendships now that I live here year round.

7. Choral singing with NCMC Chorus, Women's Chorus of Nantucket and church choir. No matter how I am feeling, I am energized by singing.

8. The South Wharf Gallery. Mary Beth Splaine has an inspiring cadre of artists. I still pinch myself when I see all my work hanging in this beautiful space.

9. Monet's Garden. The colors, textures, and setting of Monet's home in the hills of France are visuals I will never forget. I used to garden a lot and poured over books to recreate Monet's color combinations in my own garden. The wheelbarrow was my primary tool.

10. That 'aha' moment when a student gets it - how an artist sees. I am energized and rewarded by teaching. Sketching is simple because it's just you and the pencil. No fancy materials to wonder about. My favorite student is the one who says they can't draw. It doesn't get better in

the teaching world when they 'get it'. I