Anna Noel
1958 Born in Swansea, Wales
Education
1979 – 82 Studied Ceramics at Bath Academy, Corsham. Received First Class Hons. BA Degree (Ceramics)
1989 – 92 Royal College of Art, London, M.A. (Ceramics)
Exhibitions
1985
Contemporary Art Fair, Olympia with Beaux Arts
1986
Beaux Arts, Bath
1987
Parnham House, Dorset
1988
Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Sunderland
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1989
CPA Gallery, London. (By invitation of David Roberts.)
1990
Beaux Arts, Bath
The Oxford Gallery, Oxford.
1991
Masters Degree Show, Royal College of Art
Museum of Mankind, London
1992
Beaux Arts, Bath
Young Contemporaries, Victoria & Albert Museum
1993
Primavera Gallery, Cambridge
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
Oriel, Mostyn, North Wales
South Bank Festival Hall Gallery, London
“Ceramic Contemporaries” Victoria and Albert Museum, London
1994
Andrew Usiskin Gallery, Hampstead
Primavera, Cambridge
Beaux Arts, Bath
1995
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
1996
Beaux Arts , Bath
Gibbs Gallery, Canterbury
Bettles Gallery, Ringswood
1997
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
Hide Holstein – Keramic Galerie- Bremen Germany
1998
BEAUX ARTS, Bath
Sanderson Peach and George, Holmsfirth, Yorkshire.
2000
Ceramic Bienale, Switzerland
Chosen as one of ten British Ceramicists to represent the UK. Exhibited new work alongside Alison Britton, Elizabeth Fritsch, Gordon Baldwin and Takeshi Yasuda.
BEAUX ARTS, Bath
2001-Present
BEAUX ARTS, Bath
Selected Private Collections
Sir Roy Strong (Ex Director of Victoria & Albert Museum)
Sir Jocelyn Stevens (Chairman, English Heritage)
Mrs Esteve-Coll (Victoria & Albert Museum)
Prince Rainier of Monaco
Marquess of Bath
Public Collections
Aberystwyth University College, Arts Centre
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
Shipley Arts Gallery, Gateshead.
Bibliography
‘Raku A Review of Contemporary Work’ by Tim Andrews
Published by A & C Black, London
Biography
After attending Bath Academy of Art from 1979 to 1982 where she attained a First Class Honours Degree in Ceramics, Anna set up a ceramics studio in Wales in 1984 with her sister Sarah. Her pieces have been included in many exhibitions in Wales and England.
“At college I was first drawn to decorative figurative images from a variety of sources. I became fascinated by the simple serenity of T’ang Dynasty earthen ware figures and horses and at the same time came to enjoy the colour and vitality of fairground and circus animal and folk art, the ethnic art of pre-Columbian South American, and the masks and animal forms of North American Indians. Another area of interest for me is old unsophisticated simply carved and coloured toys, decoy ducks, weather vanes and stylised boldly shaped and painted tin toys and puppets. My work is a mish-mash of these influences.”
“I like the soft warmth of the surface of old toys and faded, old, carved wood and after much experiment with finishing techniques at college, I decided that Raku offered me a lively surface which seems most sympathetic to my ceramic images. With Raku I can achieve an interesting surface without glazing the whole piece, therefore keeping the image spontaneous and less worked on.”