ANNE SKELDING
Art for Pleasure
THE ARTIST
Meet Anne Skelding
I was born in the UK in August 1953. I always appreciated art, in particular I loved the work of artists like Andre Derain, Monet, Henri Matisse and Vincent Van Gough to name but a few. More recently I have looked at modern artists as well as those of the recent past. In particular I have been inspired by the work of David Tress, Peter Wileman, Hamish MacDonald, David Prentice, John Brown and Neil Canning etc.
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Having lived in the Falkland Islands and Cumbria for most of my life and now resident for 14 years in Andalucia, Spain the influence of a range of majestic landscapes is probably self evident in some of my paintings. Other influences in my art are my interest in botany and gardening and I am also a keen birdwatcher though this has not yet appeared significantly in my work.
I don`t paint what I see with accuracy but with how I feel about what I see so you will see impressionistic and abstract work mixed with a degree of accuracy.
Often great ideas as to what to do on a painting may come to me in the early hours of the morning when my brain seems to be the most active and productive.
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Perhaps another thing you may notice about my work is the use of colour and you may wish to reflect on a quote by Kees van Aalast from the book “Realistic Abstracts” 2010:
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“Colour must be more than a passive imitation of reality. Colour has more to do with feeling than with seeing.”
‘’ Soon after Anne joined our art group, they were given an exercise to do at home. The following week Anne came to me and very apologetically said that she had not done it in quite the way she thought it was intended, but had gone off at a tangent, producing something rather different. I was thrilled!
From then on I knew we had here a mind and a talent that were uniquely original. She has never looked back, always working with enthusiastic energy – an inspiration to us all.’’
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Anne Hird - "Mentor and Art Teacher"
