Techniques
In painting with oils on canvas, Anna believed in using only the best quality of materials, good canvas that is well primed, and oil paints that have the purest pigments and the longest proven history of lightfastness. Her ideas came from constant observation of her local surroundings. Sketches made on the spot with notes about colour, light, shade, and weather conditions. Her preference was to then decide on the time of day and paint directly from life, either the following day or even the following year. The initial painting would often take several days, but she might later decide to work further on it back in her studio, using her original field sketches and photographs taken at that time for additional information. Her choice of subjects was timeless – animals grazing, river reflections, children playing, wildflowers in woods and hedgerows, trees through all the seasons, waves pounding on cliffs and beaches, mellow buildings in town and country. Her passion – trying to capture the play of light that leads one into an ever-expanding and mysterious vista between towering tree trunks in the forest.
Walking and wandering with sketchbook and camera - sometimes a scene instantly shouts out "paint me!" Otherwise, she might return again and again to a chosen location at different times, in different seasons and in different weather, until it showed itself in some special way.
Then the adrenaline rush began! Deciding on the viewpoint, the size of canvas and a place to sit - set up easel and palette and get stuck in. Cover the canvas with thin wash of cobalt blue and raw sienna. Squeeze basic paints onto palette, mix two or three together with oil - choose the brush to lay verticals and horizontals on the canvas - create a balanced structure for the composition - gradually establish the tonal patterns of lights and darks, and slowly build up atmospheric colour contrasts. Get totally absorbed into the surroundings. Sunlight hits some part of the view and the palette knife quickly cuts in a splash of light and colour on the painting. The oil paints are rich - they positively glow with a special magic when they themselves catch the sun. Hours and days flew by until Anna really felt that she had caught the spirit of that place. Driven by her passion, she could never wait to start a new work in a new place!