Artist Focus: Annette Hammer

As a child, Annette Hammer traveled the back roads of California with her father, an agriculture teacher, while visiting his students in the San Joaquin Valley. The family also visited the national parks in Utah and California. These places have become some of Hammer’s favorite landscapes to paint along with other scenic areas nationwide.

The Golden Hour, oil, 20 x 40 in.

It has been more than 50 years since Hammer’s first group art class was in Santa Monica, California. From the beginning she discovered that she could convey ideas and feelings in paint that she could not express in words. While raising her family she took college classes and graduated at the top of her class from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. Since then, she has been a guest artist at the Masters of the American West at the Autry Museum of the American West. More recently, her work was part of the American Women Artists 25 in 25 show, as well as the 2025 Best of America International Exhibitions hosted by the National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society. Her work was also selected to be on the cover of the catalogue for the 2025 AWA museum show.

Wilderness Cathedral, oil, 24 x 24 in.

With each painting, Hammer seeks to connect with her viewer. Her collectors feel that they are not just looking at the painting; they are there.

Hammer’s work will be available at the Tehachapi Arts Commission VIP Exhibit on November 13 in Tehachapi, California. Visit www.artstehachapi.org for more information. —