Artist Statement

My art began with a love for the fluidity of watercolours, with a slow transition from soft subtle forms to a more recent bold approach using strong colours in still life paintings that are 'out of kilter'. I enjoy exploring new ways of creative expression using mixed media, printmaking, Chinese traditional brush painting and book-making. Currently I'm exploring gel prints and collage. Using different materials allows a freedom to express a range of thoughts and the story within my art, or simply the beauty I see within a subject.

Biography

Originating from Far North Queensland, a passion for art developed in secondary school and later in workshops and tertiary courses throughout regional Queensland and Outback Australia. Anna's early memory of her mother shopping in the small Chinese store of Innisfail attributed to a fascination with Chinese culture and language. Later, study at university would provide an opportunity to live and travel in China. She was fortunate to be tutored in the wash and ink style of Chinese painting by a female artist with no English language. Returning to Australia, Anna moved to the Huon Valley in Tasmania, where she helped establish a small regional gallery in a vibrant arts community, known as HAEG (Huon Art Exhibitions Group). Creative endeavours combined art and writing in country Victoria before moving back to Queensland, coming full circle in her art journey.

Influences

Influences   Australian Heidelberg School – Roberts, Streeton and McCubbin Impressionist painters – Monet, Renoir, Constable Yun Bing, a female artist in the Qing Dynasty,  Zhang Xu, calligrapher and poet in the Tang Dynasty Ma Laoshi, female artist and tutor (2005)  Australian Artists today – Rosemary Payne, Tricia Reust, and Jan Lawnikanis (tutor in the style of UK artists Shirley Trevena and Ann Blockley)

Exhibitions

Australian Flying Arts Regional Exhibition  HAEG Exhibitions at the Lovett Gallery, renamed Cygnet Gallery The Huon Valley exhibitions 'Watermark' and 'Southern Exposures'  The Chapel Gallery, Highfields  Artists of Crows Nest exhibition at Wendlands, Toowoomba Hampton High Country Arts Festival