Anna Lau

Anna was born in Botswana, but spent most of her childhood in the Lake District. She grew up loving wildlife and nature, which continues to be a passion inspiring her artwork today. She remembers being fascinated by animals from a very young age. She collected ‘mini-beasts’ in the garden in a jam jar, searching in the soil and the grass, letting them go again afterwards of course!

Her first love was art, but also teaching, which seemed to be a more secure way to earn a regular income. She studied art to degree level alongside teaching, then became a Primary School teacher when she graduated, leaving very little time for her own artwork.

She gave up teaching full-time to start a family. During lockdown, she had time again to devote to her art. During this time, as a member of a Facebook group, she was asked to paint someone’s pet, her first paid artwork, so she set up a business “Anna’s Art” and started painting detailed portraits of pets. She has since diversified, taking mini online art courses to learn and develop as an artist.

Her work here at ArtWorks 2 focuses on mixed media collages

Picasso once said “Art is the elimination of the unnessessary”. In her collages, Anna simplifies her animals to capture the basic shape and character of the subject. She focuses on texture, using any media to represent this, which keeps her art fresh and exciting to create. “When I do portraits, I enjoy creating detailed photorealistic artwork. When I do my collages, it’s very different, I can use my imagination and create more freely. I love to be able to do both.”

Contact Anna