:beauty and a beat
The music can be old or new, it just has to
be the right vehicle. It's the song that builds
the momentum, putting me back on the
road to where I've been, where I retrieve my
story from."
As a teenager, in the 80s in the somewhat
uneventful town of Masterton, Anna left school
when she was 15, went flatting (much to her
mother's horror) and got her first boyfriend.
"I hung out in a group of 80s punks and
anarchists and I can honestly say it was the most
hopeful time of my life. We were all 10 feet tall
and bulletproof with dreams of being artists,
writers, you name it. It was one of the best times
of my life."
After leaving school, the anarchist (or so she
was called in her day) travelled throughout the
United Kingdom and Europe only to return to
Masterton and marry at age 19.
Today, the mother of six hides deep in a
mountainous valley keeping to herself and
developing her art in solitude.
"I am not satisfied with the aesthetics of reality,
so I choose to create my own," she explains.
Once the traditional painter discovered digital
art and the fact that it allowed for numerous
horrendous mistakes to be made and
fixed by the mere click of buttons,
she was converted.
"I also switched to digital because
of space. At that time I had a full
working studio and then I had
another baby. I was drawn to the
idea of sitting on a computer and
being able to get up and down to
tend to the baby without worrying
about paints all over the place."
Surprisingly the digital artist does
not use Photoshop; a common
tool for many in her field. "I don't
like the idea of pushing a button
and having the computer make
its interpretation on my art. I'd
much rather do it manually. I use
an archaic programme called Coral
Paint ProX 4."
Anna is currently in the process of
setting up another studio and in 2013
she will be mixing the mediums of
digital art with traditional painting
"The last few years I've been stuck in
a rut sitting at the computer. I miss
the physical aspects of traditional
work. What drew me to the
computer at the start is compelling
me now."
She also plans to venture into
animation. Anna is always pushing
boundaries with her art.
"I will work until I have enough
money to fill my cave with vintage
Louis Vuitton steamer trunks, then
I'll curl up inside one and sleep."
102 | www. h e rmagaz i n e . c o. n z
"I will work until I have enough
money to fill my cave with vintage
Louis Vuitton steamer trunks, then
I'll curl up inside one and sleep."
