Anne Corlett has described herself as "a landscape painter, interested in channeling the energy of nature onto a canvas," and that makes perfect sense to those of us in the DLSA who know that Anne, her five sisters and many cousins spent their childhood summers exploring all that our gorgeous lake, dunes, rivers and woods have to offer. Many of her paintings and monotypes celebrate those scenes in a way that strikes an emotional chord with her collectors and fans because of the time they've spent soaking in this area's natural beauty on their own or with loved ones.
A Lakeshore Legacy
Anne's work is a testament to a lasting legacy from both her grandparents, who began vacationing with their families along the Douglas Lakeshore before the turn of the century. Anne's grandmother, Helen Catherine Ehrmann, began her love affair with the Douglas Lakeshore in 1898, when she was six and her family stayed at the Trumbles Boarding House attached to a nearby fruit farm. Meanwhile, Anne's grandfather and Helen's future husband, Webster David Corlett, came to Douglas with his family from Oak Park, Illinois, and stayed in tents across the road at a campsite owned by the Trumbles.
By 1904, the Ehrmanns had bought the land the campsite once stood on and built a home on the lake that is still owned by their descendants. Helen later married Webster Corlett in 1916. When their youngest, Ted, was born in 1930 and the family needed more space, they built a summer home of their own. That home has always been called the Court Cottage because it backs up to the tennis courts.
In the 1940s, the Corlett family bought the Trumbles Boarding House and its Annex to preserve the land and ensure room for their expanding families. Anne’s grandfather later moved the Annex from its original spot on the south side of the property to the end of Chestnut Street, behind the tennis courts. The family eventually sold the Annex and later bought the house in front of it, on the north side. Then, around 1990, Anne’s Uncle Ted built a home just north of that, bringing the family’s holdings to four houses. These homes have welcomed the 14 cousins from the Corlett and Higgins families, and now their children, each summer.
Because their summer homes sat on both the east and west sides of Lake Shore Drive, the six Corlett sisters (Anne's immediate family) and their many cousins got into "lots of shenanigans" as they grew up. They enjoyed building beach fires, golfing at Westshore Golf Club and boating. Many of them were also dabbling in art at an early age while summering along Lake Shore Drive, inspired by their grandmother Helen.
Helen Corlett's Artistic Influence
Helen Corlett, Anne's grandmother, enjoyed art throughout her lifetime. She graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago and, while summering in Douglas, took painting classes at the Ox-Bow School of Art. Today Anne, her sisters and her cousins proudly display Helen's watercolors in their homes. In fact, when I visited Anne to tour her studio, she showed me a beautiful landscape Helen painted.
According to Anne, because she often saw her grandmother painting and Helen painted so well, she thought "it was something anyone could do." Helen's legacy as an artist lives on today in her Corlett granddaughters: one of Anne's sisters sculpts in marble, another designs and makes jewelry, and two more enjoy painting as a hobby.
Anne's Path as an Artist
Anne became increasingly passionate about making art while attending Oak Park High School (in a western suburb of Chicago), where she took art classes every semester. After winning a prestigious art award her senior year, she decided to attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison and pursue a degree in art. After graduating, and with some encouragement from her mother, Anne began earning her living painting watercolor house portraits, including four for Robert Lefley (two along Lake Shore Drive and two in River Forest) and many others for clients throughout the greater Chicago area.
In 1988, Anne moved from Chicago to live year-round in the city of Saugatuck, where she raised her children. She pursued her own art while teaching classes at Ox-Bow and taking part in events sponsored by the Saugatuck-Douglas Art Club (SDAC). In this way, she made a name for herself in the local art community. Then, after an ambitious cross-country trip, she brought her 2016 show, Easel on Down the Road, to the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, inviting attendees to "experience what it's like to journey, paint and blog across all 50 states." You can watch a video about the project on Anne’s Kickstarter page.
More recently, Anne's work was part of a 2024 show at the History Center in Douglas titled Seasons at the Lakeshore, where her work hung alongside works by Peggy Boyce, Carl Hoerman, Cora Bliss Taylor and other legendary local talents.
You can also see Anne's work in many homes in Saugatuck Township, including the home of two of our newest DLSA members, Betsy York and Demetrhea Terrien, who display three of Anne's paintings prominently alongside works by other SDAC members. Betsy, an accomplished artist herself, describes Anne's work as "using color and composition to express a lot in each stroke… she does big work that I am emotionally drawn to… work where you can experience the movement of trees, a path in the sand and grass that bends in the wind."
Anne's Studio
In 2010, Anne moved to a new home on the Potawatomi Marsh along the Kalamazoo River, where she works in a light-filled studio surrounded by her works in progress.
Shelves and drawers hold many finished works available for sale on her website, annecorlett.net, including oils on canvas, soft pastels, watercolors and monotypes in a wide range of sizes.
In early summer 2027, the DLSA plans to cohost an open house at Anne's studio. You won't want to miss this chance to see a wide variety of her work in the company of your fellow Douglas Lakeshore members.
We hope you enjoyed this story about Anne Corlett, the second in our series of member profiles. Look for our next story, about the amazing Cally Richards.
