Annora Spence: the UK’s Most Recognisable Naive Artist
Born in 1963, Annora Spence is one of the UK’s most recognisable naive & whimsical driven artists, producing paintings and limited editions since at least the 1990s.
Her Study Background & Education
Initially studying printed textiles at Liverpool Polytechnic, she continued her education in the 1980s, completing a ma
Annora Spence: the UK’s Most Recognisable Naive Artist
Born in 1963, Annora Spence is one of the UK’s most recognisable naive & whimsical driven artists, producing paintings and limited editions since at least the 1990s.
Her Study Background & Education
Initially studying printed textiles at Liverpool Polytechnic, she continued her education in the 1980s, completing a master's degree in the same subject at Birmingham Polytechnic.
Becoming A Full Time, Established Artist
Annora then worked as an independent artist and a designer but, by the 1990s, she decided to concentrate on her painting career.
In 1994 she started releasing her famous limited edition silkscreen prints (screen prints), with each new edition invariably becoming 'sold out' from her publisher within record time. Annora would also go on to create etchings at the famous Hope (Sufferance) Press partnership in London, as well as a limited edition bronze sculpture and even a retrospective book of her imagery!
She would enjoy multiple 'sell out’ art shows in London and abroad, creating a large & loyal collector base in the UK, North America, Asia and Japan.
Her Artistic Inspiration
The artist feels inspired by her journeys across Asian, India and Europe, with the people, places and colours giving her artistic ideas. Her paint palette can vary from the rich, to the much more subtle & pale, as she uses layers of paint to create texture and tone on the canvas.
The Importance Of Humour
Humour has always been an important ingredient in her artwork and Annora tries to include this through the figurative form itself, the manipulation of objects & characters, and the development of quirky & impossible stories around them.
Interiors and backgrounds are something Annora also likes to concentrate on allowing her to experiment with colours. Scale is also a focal point for her, by flipping the scale she often adds a further humours touch – something present in almost all of her paintings!
