Enjoy Free Shipping on jewellery, Art, Fashion & Decor with code FREESHIP Exclusions apply

Anne Songhurst

Anne Songhurst is a still life artist based in North Hertfordshire, and has been drawing and painting since childhood. Initially she pursued a career in a department of the Civil Service where she used her artistic skills in cartographical drawing, and in 1972 her watercolour paintings of birds were selected by a London art dealer and publisher. For over 25 years her work was exhibited in galleries around Britain and the United States. By the time she became a full time artist in 1998, she was working in oils, and had expanded from wildlife and botanical subjects, concentrating on still life inspired by the Dutch and Flemish Masters. She has exhibited at the Mall Galleries, W H Patterson London and the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and has been a regular artist in galleries in Burford and Letchworth Garden City since 2007.

I am not seeking to achieve photo-realism. The single camera lens records it’s own version of reality; the image is captured in a moment, determined by shutter speed and focal length. My aim is to record what I see as accurately as I can, and also to convey an atmosphere of stillness and a timeless quality that develops with many days or weeks of close observation. The objects I choose to arrange in a painting have an interesting contrast for me, porcelain several hundreds of years old, silver and stoneware surviving long since their makers have passed on, together with fruit formed only a few days or weeks ago, which may deteriorate by the time the painting is completed. I love rich colours and contrasting textures, and endeavour to draw the viewer’s attention to the effects of light on the surfaces of everyday objects which may otherwise go unnoticed, and hope to inspire the viewer with the same enthusiasm.