Photo Provided ARTWORKS AROUND Town artist Anne Hazlett Foreman showcases her talents for pet portraits in this painting titled “Stare on the Stair.”

WHEELING — Anne Hazlett Foreman has found her second home at Artworks Around Town. Twenty years ago she learned about the Gallery the month after it was established and submitted her work for jurying. She was accepted and has been a member ever since.

Foreman has drawn ever since she was very small. While at Wheeling Country Day, she had lessons with Wes Wagner, who later became a good friend and fellow member of Artworks. At Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy, she studied for four years under Sister Cecilia.

She praises the sister for teaching her the basics, composition, color, design and perspective. In the fourth floor art studio, she learned first how to use charcoal, then moved on to tempra, oil and finally watercolor in her four years culminating in an exhibit in her senior year.

She attended Wheeling College and later Chatham College in Pittsburgh. She credits The Mount with instilling in her the discipline to succeed. Sister Cecilia was a 6-foot-tall nun with a wooden leg. She wore the traditional floor length black habit which made her seem even more formidable than she was.

Her teaching style was that of a classic atelier and she taught her students with patience and grace.

Foreman has won awards both locally and nationally. Best known for her pet portraits, she has also depicted homes and public buildings, illustrated books for four authors and painted murals. Her three-panel mural depicting frontier life in Wheeling was on display at Wilson Lodge’s Ft. Henry Room for years.

She has been told they will soon be installed in a downtown location. She also painted mural panels for the Hearts of Gold building in Morgantown. Her market house murals are currently lining the west walls of Artworks Around Town in Wheeling’s Historic Centre Market.

After taking a hiatus from doing pet portraits, she is once again doing commission work. Her subjects in the past have included, dogs, cats, horses, a prize bull, an adopted steer and several rabbits. She has painted on canvas, barn siding, garages and even a Chevy Van hood.

Artworks is a non profit gallery and art center located in Wheeling’s Historic Centre Market. Anyone interested in becoming a member, access the website: artworksaroundtown.com for information and an application.