"Not all of us can do great things.  But we can do small things with great love."  Mother Teresa 

Born in South Africa but of Swiss and Scottish decent,  Ireland is now my home.   A country rich in ancient history, a land full of myths and legends, with rugged weaving coastlines and mystical misty mountains, I remain constantly inspired by the wide open spaces and vibrant luminous greens of this beautiful land, together with the warmth and charm of the quick witted, incredibly friendly Irish folk.   The long wintery rainy days also keep me indoors where I can concentrate on putting art to canvas...

I focus on what inspires me - the innocence and purity of anything naturally beautiful.   I adore animals, especially rescues and have the greatest and most deepest respect  for those that give up their time and livelihood to save the unwanted, the abandoned and  the abused. Besides doing pet portrait commissions  alla prima style, I also work on the odd collection  for private collectors or exhibitions.   

My paintings are all done in oils.   I like the rich colour depth that this medium offers, the slow drying time, the fact that you can layer it,  paint it on thick or thin it and even glaze it.  I find it a very versatile medium.   You can achieve either a realistic look or an impressionistic look.  I like to swing both ways - depending on the mood that I want to convey in my current work.  

My other passion, however, is  the  technical side of  drawing, whether it be graphite, charcoal or pen and ink.  Fond of the monochromatic look. .. It might seem a bit "boring" to others to work solely in grey scale, but  black and white brings its own set of challenges - mastering form, and tonal values as well as light and dark.  The nice thing about monochrome work is that moods and tones can be conveyed very successfully using little colour or even no colour at all.    Its the simplicity of it that I like and the challenge of bringing an image to life with merely two colours. I also like to work quickly - and want to have a sense of "urgency" in my drawings.

My pen and ink collection is created solely by using mainly pointillism, or stippling.  There are no lines.  Just dots. Ink is an "unforgivable" medium.  Once its on paper there is no erasing, correcting or "going back".  It is what it is, and its challenging.  Thats what I like about it.   It takes an incredibly long time to do and as a pen and ink artist one needs a great deal of stamina and patience - but the final outcome is  to a tremendous degree personal and extremely rewarding.  

And as for my prices - they are competitive .  I do not charge a lot for my work, purely because  I believe that original art should be accessible to everyone, not just for those that can afford it.   

Follow me on instagram @anniangusart to see my latest work in progress and artwork posts, as well as a glimpse of my very simple little life