Surprise experiences of exotic destinations Q&A with Ann Bridges
T Q AHIS week we talk to Ann Bridges, whose work is on display at MOSTYN, Llandudno.
Where are you from? Tell us about your family and what you’re best known for.
My early years were spent in South East London until my father moved his watchcase making business from Clerkenwell to a village near Rye in East Sussex in 1965. Soon after the great storm of 1987 I moved with my own young family to North Wales. A decision to study Illustration as a mature student (in Wrexham) resulted in a first class honours degree, swiftly followed by the opportunity to be the first Artist in Residence at Chester Zoo,1999-2001.
A portable cabin next to the lions’ enclosure became my studio from which I developed the painterly printmaking technique I’m probably best known for. Preparation for my artwork requires the design and cutting of card stencils and making embossed card printing plates to transfer colour and detail using small hand held rollers and printmaking inks.
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How old are you? I’m nearly old enough to qualify for a senior railcard!
Tell us a little known-fact: As part of my working week I work as a model maker and designer for a company that manufactures and sells an educational toy construction system. I have to think creatively using squares and triangles to construct working automata using pulleys and gears.
Tell us about your exhibition.
The exhibition upstairs at MOSTYN in Llandudno is called ‘The Welcome’, based on my recollections of places visited and stayed at in countries including Bali, India, Thailand and Vietnam. It is on until Sunday, September 29.
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What can visitors expect to see?
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For me, the pictures on the gallery walls are full of the memories of the sights, smells and sounds of exotic travel destinations. For visitors to the exhibition, I hope it conveys some essence of that experience, through the colours, shapes and patterns of landscape, flora and fauna, buildings and cultural costume. Some pictures are tiny, relating to the tradition of Indian miniatures; others are almost life size textile designs similar to those I saw and drew in The Women’s Museum in Hanoi, in Vietnam. There are pom-poms, buttons, egrets, lotus flowers, a snake-bird, washing lines, a cockerel, and a ‘banana-leaf surprise’. Compositions based on simple paper cut-outs have an association with the paper Chinese New Year decorations that adorn the streets of Singapore. Visiting local museums and arts centres enriched our appreciation of the areas we visited. Inside one in particular, in Bangkok, I spotted an intricate wooden dolls’ house, or so I thought until I realised it had been made for mice to live in, as a plaything
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Ann Bridges at MOSTYN, photo by Kerry Roberts
to amuse children.
Which piece of work are you most proud of?
This inspired me to make an image called The Mouse House, which is in the show. I made three of these, painstakingly cutting tiny shapes from my drawings to create what looks like a row of houses inhabited by mice. Their tiny whiskered faces peep out from shutters and doors!
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What’s good about the venue?
I was delighted to be asked to bring a selection of print-based paintings and original prints to show in Gallery 6 at MOSTYN throughout the summer. Having moved away from Wales, I treasure my links with the area and especially this glorious light-filled contemporary gallery space. MOSTYN regularly supports printmakers by giving them opportunities to present their artwork to an appreciative audience, encouraging visitors to buy and collect affordable artwork. As it’s a charity, all profits from sales go back to support their exhibition programme. Admission is free.
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What are you planning to do next?
I would love to do more academic study. At present though, I attend as many MA level Drawing sessions as I can, hosted and tutored by the Royal Drawing School in London, often in out-of-house locations. My consolation for having moved back to Kent from North Wales is that I can catch a train in my village and be in the Victoria and Albert Museum in under an hour, with my sketch book and pencil.