Antique Hunting With Bob – Annette Sykes

Artist’s Statement

On weekends, my husband Bob and I head out with no particular destination in mind. We wander through antique shops, flea markets, country auctions, estate sales, and dusty barns across New England, never quite knowing what we’ll discover. Those days have become one of the great pleasures of our life together.

What draws me isn’t the value of an object or whether it’s rare. I’m interested in the evidence of a life well lived—a worn wooden bowl polished smooth by generations of hands, the subtle tint of old glass bottles catching afternoon light, faded quilts, chipped teacups, weathered furniture, and collections assembled over decades by people who simply loved beautiful things.

Painting has taught me that seeing and looking are not the same.

The longer I spend with an object, the more it reveals. Colors emerge that I hadn’t noticed. Reflections shift. Surfaces tell stories through scratches, cracks, and worn edges. What first appeared ordinary slowly becomes extraordinary through careful observation.

This exhibition grew from that way of seeing.

The paintings show a large range from intimate still lifes to more detailed and realistic still lifes. Together they celebrate not only the objects themselves, but the people who preserve them and the quiet joy of wandering without an agenda, allowing curiosity to lead the way.

Although I work in both soft pastel and oil, my goal is never simply to reproduce what I see. I want each painting to retain the energy of being made—the visible marks, the shifting light, and the sense that someone stood in front of this subject and spent time with it. I hope viewers feel invited to slow down and experience that same act of looking.

In many ways, Antique Hunting with Bob is about much more than antiques. It is about shared adventures, conversations during long drives, unexpected discoveries around the next corner, and the beauty that quietly surrounds us every day if we are willing to pay attention.

If these paintings encourage someone to linger a little longer before a simple arrangement of bottles, an old storefront, or a weathered face—and to recognize the dignity and beauty they contain—then they have accomplished exactly what I hoped they would.

About the Artist: Annette Sykes

Annette Sykes is a Massachusetts-based painter whose work explores the extraordinary beauty found in ordinary places, objects, and moments. Working primarily in soft pastel and oil, she creates still lifes, landscapes, portraits, and figures that invite viewers to slow down and rediscover the richness of careful observation.

Raised in the Midwest and now living and working on Massachusetts’ North Shore, Sykes earned a Master of Fine Arts from the California College of the Arts after completing post-baccalaureate studies at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has undergraduate degrees in design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC. Her career has been shaped by an unusual combination of roles as artist, educator, nonprofit arts leader, and mentor—experiences that have reinforced her belief that art is as much about building community as it is about creating beautiful objects.

For nearly two decades, Sykes worked in special education while continuing to develop her own artistic practice. She spent several years directing GALA and the programming of the gallery in Lynn, MA including a weekly figure drawing group and numerous exhibits and events. Today, she paints full time from her studio in the historic Lydia Pinkham Building in Lynn, Massachusetts, and mentors local artist Polyvios Christoforos through a Massachusetts self-directed support program.

Her recent work has centered on three interconnected bodies of work: the changing landscape of New England painted en plein air; intimate portraits and figure studies; and Antiquing with Bob, an ongoing series inspired by weekends spent exploring antique shops, flea markets, auctions, and country fairs with her husband. Across these subjects, Sykes is less interested in documenting places or possessions than in revealing the quiet stories embedded within them. A weathered bottle, an antique teacup, a windswept shoreline, or the face of an antique dealer all become opportunities to examine memory, time, craftsmanship, and the poetry of everyday life.

Known for her sensitive handling of light and atmosphere, Sykes balances careful observation with expressive mark-making, allowing each painting to retain the energy and immediacy of its creation. Whether working from life outdoors or arranging treasured objects in her studio, she approaches painting as an act of sustained attention—a practice of looking deeply enough that familiar things become new again.

Sykes exhibits regularly throughout New England, including solo and juried exhibitions, and continues to expand a body of work that celebrates curiosity, human connection, and the enduring beauty of ordinary experience. She believes that painting is not simply a way of recording what she sees, but a way of understanding the world and inviting others to see it with fresh eyes.