Ann Connolly Shultz is an artist, teacher and writer. She spent years as an executive and manager in local government and politics. Since retiring from that career, she has devoted her time and passion to the creative life.
Ann is a professional artist and art teacher. She studied classical drawing and painting for many years most recently through the Department of Fine Arts at Saddleback College. There she honed her skills in oils, watercolor, pencils and pastels. She has won regional awards in both oils and watercolors. In July of 2016, she was selected as an exhibiting artist at The Cottage Gallery on historic Los Rios Street in San Juan Capistrano. She also works on commission. She currently teaches drawing and painting online through Home School Campus. Previous to that, she taught on campus in Costa Mesa and Dana Point. She loves working with young artists, encouraging them to find their own style of expression.
Ann is particularly inspired by the soul and spirituality of animals, flowers and nature. Her series include works celebrating the beauty of equine movement, botanicals and flowers and an Americana series inspired by her and her husband’s travels through the United States.
Ann is also a published free lance writer. Her articles can be viewed on this web page. She has just finished her first book. Lethal Landscape is a mystery set in a fictional beach town in Orange County California. A mother and daughter, Mariah and Maggie O’Keefe, team up to solve the murder of a local businessman who was developing a controversial project on the California Coast. There is no shortage of suspects or intrigue as Maggie and Mariah set out to find the killer.
Ann is at work on her second mystery Paws and Rewind. In this comic twist on the mystery genre, protagonist Claire O’Hare discovers that Eddy, her newly adopted dog from the animal shelter, not only can talk but is the reincarnation of her deceased ex-husband Dex. As Claire and Eddy set out to solve Dex’s murder they join forces with her student, Gen Zer, Tristan Underwood. Danger mounts as the three get closer and closer to a crafty and ruthless murderer.
Ann lives in seaside Dana Point in Southern California, with her husband, Robert, and Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Parker. She has two grown stepdaughters, Allison and Carlee.
