Ann Ross RSW : 'by leaves we live'

Ann Ross RSW lives in Edinburgh and regularly exhibits at the Open Eye Gallery. She is an elected member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. Her studies at the Edinburgh College of Art culminated in a travelling scholarship in Europe - the start of a rich source and accumulation of memories. Her work has always been inspired by the world around her at home and abroad.

She enjoys working in watercolours and gouache - 'It's the perfect medium for building up layers of detail and rich colours allowing lots of pattern and movement. Paint and paper can become a journey into recalled light, colour and shape.'

Much of her time is spent working, watching and listening in various gardens and woodlands on travels near and far. Many of her paintings are visual memories of special moments in these beautiful spaces, wild or cultivated, and glimpses of wildlife or well beloved pets.

In 'By leaves we live', her most recent work, Ann Ross paints her many observations of the world around and its changing seasons. The constant focus in this work is the flora and fauna around.

'How many people think twice about a leaf? Yet the leaf is the chief product and phenomenon of life: this is a green world with animals comparatively few and small, and all dependent on the leaves.'
Patrick Geddes, the Scottish pioneering biologist, sociologist and town planner

'Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.' Albert Camus.