Anna Noel

From early childhood in Wales animals have fascinated Anna and their imagery has fuelled her imagination. Animals used in stories, myths and folklore often express and symbolise the complexities of childhood and the adult world.

Anna studied at Bath Academy of Art and The Royal College of Art where she gained an M.A. in Ceramics.

Anna often likes to include texts from poems, riddles and rhymes in her work and draws inspiration from ancient sculpture and folk art from a variety of cultures; particularly America and European traditions.

Alison Britton has said of my work:

‘The animals in Anna Noel’s small sculptures tread a delicate line between folk art and modernity; she has a particular sensibility that can include humour and solemnity, and an economy of form and painting. Combining form painting is one of the special skills or work with clay. Anna has worked consistently for several decades in this exploration of the figure, sometimes paired with humans and the necessary conventions of supporting thin legs in clay sculpture are beautifully resolved. Not the lion leaning against the tree we find in Staffordshire flat back, but a horse or fox supported by a small hill; enigmatic and understated. Her avoidance of sentimentality is her great achievement.'