Anna Henry

Photos: Trish ChongEditorial: Jessie James

Anna Henry divides her work practise between floristry and painting from a mixed-use warehouse building in Petersham. The sun is pouring through the windows onto loose and natural arrangements of banksia branches and leaves, and a small bunch of flannel flower sits gently amid palettes of layered paint, brushes, vessels and jars. Artworks lean casually against a wall, and an easel is positioned to work while standing. A study of Anna’s former home in Austinmer hangs above a trestle table and the sound of the wind hammering against the metal roof interposes now and then on the reflective mise-en-scene.

Where are you from?
I grew up on the south coast of Sydney on a dairy farm. It’s in Pyree; a small farming suburb not too far from Jervis Bay, so really the best of both worlds – coastal yet rural.

Where have you lived previously?
I’ve lived in many share-houses now with quite a few people over the last 6 years; mainly in the inner west from Glebe, Leichardt, Edgecliff and back to Glebe, but I also had a 6-month stint down the coast in Austinmer.

Could you tell us a little about your background?
I Graduated from The National Art School in 2016 and have been painting since. It wasn’t really until art school that I started painting and figured out that I really enjoyed painting from life. I find translating what you see in front of you and interpreting that onto a flat surface to be a good challenge and one that I don’t really tire of.

What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on my first solo show that will be at Sheffer Gallery in Darlington in November.

What are you most proud of?
That’s tricky to answer…I think the best way at looking at it is, if I were to think of what I imagined my life to be like now from when I was 10, I guess my kid self would be proud of how everything is coming along both in my art practice but also with floristry.

What do you see as your limitations?
Time and money, the age-old classics. Sydney is an expensive place to live and I don’t think it’s particularly easy for emerging artists to continue painting. I think it can be a challenge to find the time and the space where we can make and create between jobs. It’s great that I have a studio were I’m still surrounded by people that are making something, because at the end of the day it’s nice to have that validation and company.

What is most important to you right now?
Good food, friends and wine? Getting a Coffee and trying to finish this mammoth book “A Little Life”. Hoping that it doesn’t rain on my washing. Surviving winter (I hate the cold) and art-wise probably working towards my first solo show.

What or who are some of your influences?
I definitely would have to mention Matisse, Pierre Boncompain, Alice Neel, Margaret Preston, Morandi, Diebenkorn, Euan Uglow … the list is long, but also the contemporary Sydney scene as that’s what I am surrounded by. But through my floristry I’m also surrounded by interesting flowers, so that really complements the paintings I make. I am also influenced just by what I see in my every day; in the mundane, or furniture that I’ve found on the side of the road or objects I have lying around. And once you put it in a still life you realise the shadow it casts is interesting or the colour is a good contrast to what it’s around and or it helps make for an interesting composition.

Could you describe your process for working?
Mostly my paintings are made from a still life set up. I’ve just started a series of acrylic paintings at home that’s just on the dining room table, of anything that finds its way there. They’re fast studies that I do when I get home whilst listening to my dad’s old records. My practice at short is painting from observation, and hopefully I can paint it in time before it dies – flowering eucalyptus is always a time challenge but a good one. They start from a gessoed canvas or board and I paint a quick outline of what I see and start blocking it in. I like some of the translucent oil paints as starting layers as they make such nice surfaces that I try to leave coming through. The painting then evolves on its own using the set up as a starting point.

Do you have a special memory associated with your work or home?
Whilst at Art School I usually went home for a long period of time over summer and I didn’t really have a place to paint, so I set up a little studio in the shed to work. It was incredibly hot, and I had to swat away the flies whilst painting, so it wasn’t particularly pleasant. My second shed studio wasn’t glamorous either, it was underneath the house in Austinmer, but with a few lamps and a few hanging curtains is was as good as any space to paint. It also was a hot spot in the morning sun but the beach was only a minute walk away.

Where do you like to spend time locally?
I love going to Glebe markets on a Saturday if I’m not working, I think they’re the best markets around and conveniently very close to home. I’m either loitering about the inner west – at the moment I’m particularly fond of Sweet Belem and their Portuguese tarts in Petersham, which is dangerously close to my studio. Or, if I have a weekend off it’s always nice to go home and see my family and spend time relaxing on the farm.

1. anna-may-henry.com2. @annamayhenry

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