Anna JH Artist - Looking For The Unseen

Anna JH

London, England

Mediums: household/ acrylic/ oil paint, plaster, pva glue, sand, paper, glass

Style: Painterly Abstraction

Favorite Quotes: “The myriad suggestions by which my head declares its presence elude being skewered by sentences” Raymond Tallis

""Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." - Pablo Picasso

Favorite Book: Harry Potter

Favorite Movie: Any film that will send genuine shivers down my spine.

lifelines

Lifelines 39x39” 2013

I have always loved to paint but drifted away from it while studying Fine Art at University. In 2011 I moved to The Faroe Islands for a year with my partner and living in a wilderness that is so relentlessly bombarded by weather inspired me to rediscover my love for painting for the first time since school. During this time I went walking everyday and became captivated by the effect that nature has on many different textures.

Please tell us about your first experience creating.

When I was about 6 or 7, I remember making a dolls house from cardboard boxes. It was a bit shabby but it had two floors, furniture and I made a little family. I took it outside, made a little pond for their garden and even turned a broom head upside down for a forest.

What music do you like to have playing while creating art?

I tend to get obsessed with one album and then move on to another. My current obsession is Lady Gaga ‘Artpop’. I also like listening to audiobooks while painting.

chemical reaction

Chemical Reaction 39x30” 2013

If you have a job besides being an artist, can you tell us about it?

I work in customer service at Marks and Spencer. It’s quite the contrast, but I get some cheap food and a discount. It’s convenient for me because I work evenings therefore I can spend my day doing the work that I like.

What are you trying to convey to viewers through your art?

I want to show people the abandoned and unseen beauty that they walk past every day. In a perfect world, I think people should see art everywhere, not just in white boxes that you pay an entry fee for. I don’t really like art that is designed to go over people’s head. My work tends to be simple and to the point because art is for everyone. This is the point I am trying to make, really, that art is everywhere.

cave roof

Cave Roof 49x39” 2011

Tell us about your creative process, from the beginning of a typical piece to its completion:

The basis of each of my paintings comes from a photograph I have taken. I work with this to replicate the texture and colour of the object. The material I use first is plaster mixed with PVA. I smother this over the canvas, recreating the shapes and texture I want. When the plaster is half dry I cover it in PVA or strengthener. When this is all dry I sand it down to get the bumps and imperfections out, then I begin to layer on the colours. Usually I finish the piece with another layer of PVA or varnish.

What things inspire you to create art?

I am fascinated with the colour and texture as a result of natural processes like erosion and weathering on man-made and natural objects. Sometimes when I notice these things in the street or elsewhere, I have to stop and wonder why no one else is seeing what I am, I feel like I have to bring it to people’s attention.

Pochvalen bud

Pochválen bud Pán 39×39” 2013

What exhibitions have you had?

April 2012 ‘A Foreign Perspective’

Öström in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.

Have you sold any of your artworks? How?

I sold some of the pieces from ‘A Foreign Perspective’ through the venue staff at Öström.

How do you promote your art on the internet?

I have a website that is also my blog www.annajh.com and a Facebook page.

Tell us about influences

My influences come from real life: People, places or feelings. When I get that overwhelming urge to rush back to the studio to make art, the majority of the time I am walking down the street, on a train or somewhere devoid of people. So if you see a woman in her mid 20’s staring transfixed at a concrete wall, it’s probably me.

Tell us something interesting in your life

In the summer of 2012 I embarked on a cycle tour with my partner through Europe. We left London on the 19th June and ended up in Zagreb, Croatia on 24th August. We camped every night, cycled about 3000 miles, met many characters and saw many corners. It was a crazy time, one that I could never condense into a paragraph. This experience is what has inspired me to create ‘Forgotten Corners’ which is the series of paintings I am currently working on.

concrete wall

Concrete Wall #1 39 x 49” 2011

Do you have an embarrassing moment in your life?

I remember one time in primary school when I was about 8, I had to play a cello solo in front of the whole school. Nothing that embarrassing happened, but I was so nervous that my hands shook throughout the whole song and I’m sure that it sounded pretty terrible. It still makes me nervous just thinking about it!

If you could live your life over again, would there be anything you would do differently?

I would have left my Fine Art University course after I failed my first year, and begun to focus on my painting two years earlier. I would be two years ahead of where I am now, and with less debt.

What plans do you have for the future of your art?

My plan is to keep making it and to hope other people appreciate it.

Do you have any good advice for emerging artists?

I am definitely not yet qualified to give advicegive advice so.. any advice is welcome?