“Living on the hilltops above Hebden Bridge, the wind and the light are often in my face; this is not a complaint as these conditions frequently inspire my work. Having moved to Yorkshire more than twenty years ago, I have become part of this place and it has become part of me.
Even when not actively working, I pay attention and absorb information. These, sometimes, unconscious visual and emotional notes are carried into the studio where my aim is to create a sense of being in a place …even if the place has blue trees or a green sky! I am not often moved to depict true representations of topography, rather more a gradual bending of my observations and sensibilities that hopefully result in an interesting image. I work up the paintings in layers and when they occur, I like to take advantage of unexpected effects on the surface.
My palette is changing. For a period, I was stuck with four main colours: Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Mars Black and Titanium White. This resulted in limitations. When I started to use yellow a few years ago I lost some of my colour inhibitions and even red is showing up these days! I use acrylics and work on a variety of surfaces: stretched canvas, braced boards and pre-prepared panels.
Anna gained her degree in Design from North Staffs University in1985. Although her main area of study there was Hand Ceramics, in the years after graduating her practice has gradually transformed into painting for the last ten years or so.
Since April 2019, Anna has worked in her studio on the top floor of an old mill building in the Pennine town of Hebden Bridge.
