Originally from Lincolnshire, Anna has studied at the veterinary department of Bristol University and at Carmarthen College of Technology and Art, studying veterinary medicine, physiology and wildlife illustration. She obtained a distinction in physiology and won the 'Student of the Year Award' in illustration. Anna gained much experience as a graphic design assistant at the Natural History Museum in London, an animal keeper at Manor House Wildlife Park and as a crafts adviser and garden centre manager in Pembroke Dock.
Since leaving art college, Anna has been undertaking commissioned work, including the painting of a mural in Wisconsin, USA, titled 'The Wildlife and Landscape of the American River Bluffs'. She has exhibited in a variety of galleries, including the Albany Gallery, Cardiff, and at the Society of Wildlife Artists Exhibition at the Mall Gallery, London, where she received a highly commended award in the Natural Art category.
Anna has chosen to live in Pembrokeshire due to her unending fascination with eroding coastlines and the visual portrayal of 'all things marine' - these being the focal points of her current studies at the Royal College of Art in London where she is undertaking a Masters Degree in Natural History, Illustration and Ecology. She finds winter a far more inspirationally rewarding time - high winds, driving rain on the cold tranquility of a frosty morning and, of course, stretches of the Coastal Path to herself!
With photographs freeing natural history artists from tight illustrative restraints, there are many visually exciting realms to be explored. Through this exhibition, Anna hopes to create an awareness that 'wildlife art' is no longer necessarily distinct from 'mainstream art'.
Presently, there are artists working in many diverse styles in the portrayal of British wildlife; she is inspired by the work of, for example, Kim Atkinson and Michael Warren - where stylistic exaggeration of species, even characterisation, marries with a degree of abstraction in the landscape.
Anna believes that a species should be shown as part of its habitat - interaction between different species and how the landscape impresses upon the lives of its inhabitants - all this interests her greatly.
In the future, upon completion of her masters degree, Anna hopes that by working alongside conservation bodies, her paintings can help enlighten and inform a wider public about our natural heritage and pressing issues surrounding it, allowing her to put back into the natural world, via others, some of the increasing interest it has given her.
All the works in this exhibition will be for sale.
'Wild West' will continue until December 21, and the exhibition is open between Monday and Friday from 10 am to 5 pm.
For further enquiries contact the museum on (01834) 842809 or e-mail [email protected]">[email protected]