Ann Holden
Ann qualified from Cambridge Vet School in 1980 and worked in general practice in the north west of England for the next 20 years. For 11 years she ran her own small animal surgery (mainly dogs, cats and ‘small furries’) and this didn’t leave her much time for anything else. She did, however, go to a calligraphy night school and joined the North West Calligraphers’ Association. After a period of ill health Ann retired from practice and began to spend more time with calligraphy and then watercolour classes. She enjoyed painting with watercolour but found it frustrating: Ann’s art teacher suggested that she might find it interesting to try coloured pencils. And thus Ann found she did, indeed, enjoy CP. With her background it was natural that she should first start to draw animals. Since 2003, Ann has had work (mainly CP but also watercolour and acrylics) exhibited in the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art, the UKCPS annual exhibition and several local exhibitions on the Wirral. She also produces sympathy cards for her old veterinary surgery.
More recently, Ann has completed a number of portraits of people and she’s found that, rather to her surprise (she’s always considered herself an ‘animal person’ rather than a ‘people person’!) she really enjoys this. Her most recent CP portrait, of the late Professor Leslie Vaughan DSc DVR FRCVS, an eminent academic and long-serving member of the veterinary profession, was commissioned by the Royal Veterinary College.
Ann has been a member of the UKCPS since 2004 and is currently Editor of Talking Point, the society’s newsletter.
She is happy to discuss commissions for animal and people portraits in graphite or coloured pencil.
