Could you tell me more about your other forms of art?
Right now, I do canvas work and I still work as a community artist, so I do workshops with kids where I teach street art. I also do a lot of recycled artwork. I’ll go and get a big army tent from Army Surplus, and we’ll make it into backdrops and paint it, or we’ll use inner tubes and make jewellery.
Glasswork was something that I was really into when I was at university, and I used to work with a glass blower in Matlock who taught me. So just before lockdown, I’d go and collect glass bottles, like nice vodka bottles, take the tops off, sandblast flowers onto them and then sell them as vases, because they’re beautiful pieces of art. In fact, in The Chapel upstairs in The Angel, I made that huge chandelier from an old trampoline frame and drums that you brew beer in. Then, I made loads of shades and put them all the way around it.
Do you think street art has a positive impact on communities?
Absolutely. I think it brings people together, in the sense that they talk about it, and discuss it with each other. I think in Beeston, in particular – when I started, there were quite a lot of alleys that had a lot of fly tipping and stuff, and people wouldn’t walk down there. Now, there’s a beautiful mural and no fly-tipping. I think it makes people respect the environment a little bit more, particularly if you do it with children. It gives them a sense of belonging, and that it’s there, they’ve done it, and then they want to look after it. It gives them a community spirit and uplifts them.
To meet Anna, head to see her painting a mural on Saturday 20 September at The King Billy for Art Fest 2025.