Cheshire Artists Network

Ann Bridges

Working from sketch book studies and direct observation I create vibrantly coloured images combining painting and stencil-based printmaking processes. Layers of inks are applied directly to the picture surface using small hand held rollers. By wiping off areas that are not quite dry and drawing into the ink, hidden colours are revealed and the richness of the image is gradually built up. The finished pictures are usually described as print-based paintings or monoprints.

Most of my current subject matter is based on happy childhood memories of playing in the garden, walking through bluebell woods, making or buying cakes for tea, reading stories (especially the Princess and the Pea), picking and pressing flowers, pond dipping and playing with the contents of the button box.

Drawing is important to my practice, sketchbooks are always to hand for recording and documenting what I see around me.

Recent Residencies include a trip to South Africa to record a group of volunteers who were building dwellings in an orphanage and an Art in Nature residency in Wepre Park, Flintshire (2010).In May 2008 I produced a body of work in response to the history of 'The Ladies of Llangollen' at Plas Newydd. For two years (1999-2001) I worked as Artist in Residence at Chester Zoo, concentrating on the Aquarium, the Twilight Zone (bats) and the gardens.

With the support of a Lottery Project grant from the Arts Council of Wales in 2006 I was able to document the lifecycle of the silkworm through a series of drawings. An exhibition from this project has been on show at Chester Zoo and Macclesfield Silk Museum.

My work is exhibited nationally and internationally in group and solo shows.

The charity Paintings in Hospitals hold a number of works in their loan collection