Annalisa has studied art steadily throughout her life, starting in her hometown of Darien, Connecticut.  In 2006 she earned a Bachelor of Humanities and Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University.  She has taken excellent classes at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) Studio School.

Annalisa sees painting as a way to point out "Hey look, this is beautiful!"  Whether that beauty is found in a golden retriever or in a warrior maiden, Annalisa is eager to capture it in pencil and paint.  Annalisa began taking art lessons when she was 4 years old and also began making little stapled-together books telling stories (usually ones featuring cats) with words and pictures.  Storytelling is still a guiding passion, especially the kind of storytelling that can be categorized as fantasy.

In recent years she has been a student at the illustrious Illustration Master Class for 4 summers in a row in Amherst, Massachusetts.  She has also taken a summer portrait painting workshop at Grand Central Academy of Art in New York City.  Annalisa is currently building a fantasy art portfolio and she offers commissioned pet portraits done in oils.