Inside, outside: Behind Anna Boss' landscapes

Rebecca Naylor
20 minutes ago
3 min read

The world outside her door never fails to inspire. We catch up with Bristol-based painter Anna Boss on her all-weather wanders through the local countryside and how her passion for the great outdoors translates into her ethereal landscapes.

Landscape paintings inspired by photographs; Anna Boss in her Bristol studio

Which places most inspire you?

I walk or run my dog every day, which means I’m out in all weathers throughout the year! The nearby countryside provides daily inspiration – even the most familiar locations change dramatically throughout the seasons. From day to day and even hour to hour. I love to explore further afield, too, and often spend my weekends in search of new landscapes. Discovering these destinations provides me not only with fresh energy, but the chance to offer an alternative perspective on locations often familiar to those who enjoy my work.

Can you tell us about your painting process?

My process involves applying multiple layers of resin. Each layer can take hours to dry, so it makes sense for me to work on several paintings at once. I tend to work on series inspired by a singular walk using a cohesive colour palette. Though I’d love to work outdoors, this time-consuming process would be impossible to execute out in the field! Instead, I bring a mixture of sketches and photos back with me to the studio. There, a piece of work can take me anything from a few weeks to a year before I’m happy to show it to the world!

Anna Boss working on a hazy landscape in her studio

What’s on your studio playlist?

I listen to a mix of music and podcasts. I tend to get really into certain artists and play their albums over and over again. I’ve had times when I’ve become totally obsessed with Lola Young – and a period religiously listening to The Smile. Sometimes I look back at a painting and can remember what I was listening to at the time!

Is anyone else in your family artistic?

My Great Aunt Nancy was a painter. I lived with her for a while when I was 10 and she used to take me to her local painting classes. Just being around her enthusiasm and appetite for life has proved a strong and lasting inspiration.

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Do you find it difficult to part with your work?

Not in the slightest! I always paint with the idea of the work not belonging to me – and am both delighted and humbled when someone falls in love with one of my pieces. I don’t have any of my artwork hanging on my walls at home, either. I would be too critical of them! One of the most difficult things about painting is knowing when a piece is ‘finished’. The temptation to ‘tweak’ something would gnaw at me – and probably wouldn’t improve it anyway!

You’re hosting a dinner party with two artists from any point in time. Who are they?

They would have to be from the Bloomsbury group. Perhaps Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. I visited Charleston Farmhouse once – Bell and Grant’s country home and hub for other writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists. It was restored in the 1980s to absolute perfection! When you step in through the doors you can still feel their presence, as if they have just put their paint brushes down. They created a place of freedom to develop their own ideas and lifestyles. I would so love to hear their stories retold from around their kitchen table.

Paintbrushes galore; works in progress at the artist's studio

If you weren’t an artist, what do you see yourself doing?

It would certainly be creative! Perhaps in the theatre, which I have always been drawn to. I’m a social person who has ended up working in solitude, and I would love to be part of that collaborative buzz and sharing of ideas.

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