Ann Blockley
Biography
Ann Blockley is an artist based in the UK. She trained at Brighton University, gaining a BA (Hons) in Illustration, specialising in natural history, and initially worked as an illustrator before becoming a full-time fine artist. Her work has been exhibited widely in the UK and internationally and is held in private collections around the world.
Ann has written numerous books on experimental watercolour techniques, including Poetic Woods: Experimental Watercolour and Collage and Experimental Landscapes in Watercolour, and regularly contributes to painting magazines. She is a member of the Society of Women Artists, where she received the HRH Princess Michael Award for Most Outstanding Watercolour, and The Arborealists, a group of artists focused on trees and nature.
Artist Statement
Ann Blockley’s work is rooted in an immersion in nature, inspired by the countryside and gardens surrounding her studio. She is particularly drawn to the intricate, abstract tangles and organic patterns created by plant forms in hedgerows, woodlands and fields, following their seasonal transformations of colour and texture.
Working in watercolour and mixed media, Ann explores ways of subtly altering reality into something more poetic and elusive. Rather than precisely representing a particular feature, she uses water-based media to interpret the sense of an image, allowing intriguing marks to suggest rather than describe.
She is fascinated by the way the wanderings and happenings of watercolour can echo the processes of nature itself. Her work is evocative, atmospheric and intuitive, seeking to capture an elusive sense of mystery and magic that lies somewhere between reality and the imagined.
Continually experimenting and re-evaluating her approach, Ann is increasingly interested in natural and alternative ways of creating art.