With paintings reflective of her rich Latin heritage — full of life, energy, and color – Anelisa Calmet is making her debut as an abstract artist.
By Georgetta L. Morque
With paintings reflective of her rich Latin heritage — full of life, energy, and color – Anelisa Calmet is making her debut as an abstract artist. Her studio is in her Rye home and her paintings can be found in town at Nest Inspired Home and on Greenwich Avenue at Greenwich Salad Co. She hopes her work will bring joy to every viewer.
Painting is a relatively new venture for Calmet, a native of Peru and a former Spanish teacher, who found extra time on her hands after her two children, Axel, 25, and Krizia, 27, moved on. Nurturing her creative passion became the best way to fill the gap. Calmet always loved abstract art and over the years has taken classes during her many travels. At one time, she created abstract paintings of the fast action of squash players in Venezuela, at the courts where her husband, Francisco, former No. 2 player in Peru and Venezuela, trained. More recently, she has studied at Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan and at Greenwich Art Society.
Calmet paints with acrylics in thin and thick layers, often coating a large canvas multiple times and sometimes scraping and covering it again. Some pieces are mixed media with additions of found objects such as netting and shoelaces. She also uses ink. Her work is spontaneous and she enjoys the creative process and seeing her paintings evolve. Some of the artists she admires are Franz Kline, Frank Stella, Mary Abbott, Judith Godwin, Wassily Kandinsky, and Elaine de Kooning.
In addition to Peru, Calmet has lived in Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Brazil and Miami, traveling with Francisco, for his banking career. Weary from constant moving, the couple decided to settle in the U.S. with their children, both born in Venezuela, and planted their roots in Rye in 2004.
From the vivid seas to the vibrant people, Latin American life has been a source of inspiration for Calmet’s work. “In Brazil, there were people who were very poor but they were happy. There was a lot of energy.” She wants her paintings to instill happiness and uplift moods.
To see more of her work, visit www.anelisacalmet.com.
