Annie Drew

Still in her early 30's, Annie has already had a successful career as an artist for over 15 years. When she dropped out of college, aged 16, she never dreamt that she would have the honour of exhibiting alongside some of her art heroes Pip Mcgarry, Tony Forrest, and Steve Burgess. In fact by the age of 22 she had already put together a solo exhibition and had produced a sell-out show.

Despite having never travelled further than France herself, she is already an international wildlife artist of considerable reputation with pieces hanging in galleries as far afield as Missouri, USA. And the self-publication of her latest pieces as limited edition prints, has also meant roping in a few family members to help with the managing and running of her growing business.

"One of my ambitions when I first started" she says "was to produce work that didn't require paragraphs of annotation - rambling written work to explain, describe and sum up your piece of work. I've always believed that if it has to be explained, it isn't working. "Art that speaks for itself" became my goal and I like to think that I've managed it."

Despite what she was taught at college - "Painting from nature is a useless talent" - her inspiration and passion comes from nature. She developed her up-close, detailed style of painting because she liked to see each strand of hair, every wrinkle and as much character as in the original animal.

As Annie explains "Vincent Van Gogh said "It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to. The feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures" , and I can only hope that you like it too."