Ann Ekstrom was born in Fort Worth in 1953. Her talented mother, Beth Lea Clardy, instilled a devotion to art at an early age. Ekstrom earned a B.FA. from Texas Christian University. She received additional art training at the University of Texas at Austin and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Ekstrom's passion for art is seen in a deep body of work that ranges from printmaking to watercolor painting to highly detailed, large-scale oils. Her 72-foot painting, Hints of a Life, is permanently installed at Tarrant County College, Southeast Campus. Paintings by her are included in corporate and private collections across North Texas. Ekstrom is a popular Fort Worth lecturer and has been featured in the Kimbell Art Museum's The Artist's Eye. In addition to studio work, Ekstrom has served as a painting instructor for Texas Christian University's Extended Education program and teaches in her studio near the TCU campus. She has been chosen by the office of Fort Worth Public Art to design a project at North Z. Boaz Park for the Bomber Heights neighborhood. Ekstrom is a long-time promoter of Art in the Metroplex, and a former steering committee member of EASL (Emergency Artists' Support League). She has served on the Exhibition Advisory Panel of the Fort Worth Community Arts Center. Artspace 111 in Fort Worth represents her. She recently had a show at the Grace Museum in Abilene and has an upcoming show at the Martin Museum of Art on the Baylor campus in Waco.