Following the huge success and popularity of Ann's 2011 holiday, she returns again in 2012 for a seven day holiday sharing her expertise and passion for botanical art. Learn about her distinctive style and techniques while drawing the rich and diverse local flora.

This is a relaxed style of holiday that offers not only top class tuition from Ann, but also lots of opportunities to get out and explore our beautiful area either by yourself or on organised excursions. The holiday is scheduled to coincide with the explosion of wild flowers and orchids for which this area is justly famous.

To find out more about Ann’s work and this holiday including prices and how to book, click on the link below: www.annswan.co.uk/workshops.php

About Ann Swan

Ann Swan is one of the UK’s leading Botanical Artists. She specializes in pencil and coloured pencil work. Her exquisitely detailed drawings have been sold and exhibited worldwide including at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Hunt Institute, Pittsburgh, USA. She has been awarded four gold medals by the Royal Horticultural Society and a silver medal by the 14th World orchid Conference and her work features in the Shirley Sherwood Collection. Her striking compositions are intensely observed and often enhanced with colour, using a technique of applying conté pastel or coloured pencil with solvent. Many of these meticulous plant portraits have now been reproduced as limited edition prints, each one signed and numbered by the artist.

Ann studied in the 1960s at Manchester College of Art and Design. Pencil drawing has always been her favourite medium but it was not until 1988 that she was able to combine her interest in natural forms with her drawing skills. She began to exhibit in 1990 and now shows her work worldwide. Exhibitions include The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in 1994 and the Hunt Institute's 8th International Exhibition in Pittsburgh USA. She exhibits regularly at the Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows and with the Society of Botanical Artists and Society of Flower Painters. Her work is represented in the Shirley Sherwood Collection and features in many prestigious private collections around the world. Her drawings of Lycastes for The National Collection of Lycastes have been awarded 4 Gold Medals by the RHS and a silver medal at the 14th World Orchid Conference.

Ann's striking pencil drawings of plant forms are intensely observed and often brilliantly enhanced with colour, exhibiting a strong sense of style and design. She has developed her own individual techniques, either building up layers of dry coloured pencil or applying conté pastel or coloured pencils with solvent. Many of her meticulous plant portraits have now been reproduced by a specialist Fine Art Printer and member of the Fine Art Guild. The drawings are laser scanned to capture all the fine detail and then printed lithographically on acid free paper. The light-fast colours are hand mixed to reproduce exactly the quality of the original and the process is monitored at every stage by the artist. Each print is signed and numbered and the editions are strictly limited.

In 1998 Ann started drypoint engraving which adapts well to her detailed style. She engraves directly onto copper plate with a diamond or steel carbide point and then hand prints the plates herself. The editions are limited to between 10 and 25 prints. Some of her work is also reproduced as high quality Greeting Cards.

His passion for photography, travel and the world’s beautiful places are the defining influences that have shaped David’s life, work and creative approach to photography. David was born in England in 1957 but spent much of his youth travelling with his family between the UK, California and Canada. After leaving school David joined the Navy - in search of further travels and adventures. It was whilst sailing the seven seas in the Merchant Navy that his interest in photography grew. After a few years at sea he decided to pursue his passion and returned to study photography in Gloucester, England in 1982. Ever since David has been captivated by photography. After leaving college in 1985 he began to work as a freelance photographer specialising in landscape and other travel subjects, which over the last 25 years have taken him to almost every part of the globe. He is now established and recognised as one of the country’s leading landscape and travel photographers. His images sell all over the world – both as fine art photography and commercially in advertising and publishing. He has won international awards for: British Gas/ BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards in 1985,1989 & 1990. He also writes regularly about travel and photography for a number of magazines. David has worked for numerous clients and his pictures are used all over the world. British Airways, Sainsbury's, Geo, Toyota, Qantas, Sunday Times and the Telegraph are just a few of the many companies who use his images. During the last twenty years he has worked extensively for the National Trust covering much of the UK’s landscape and coastline, which has featured in many high profile publications and several highly acclaimed photographic exhibitions. Most notably: • “New Vision” Contemporary Art Photography - AOP Gallery • “The Coast Exposed” – Maritime Museum Greenwich and the Lowry • “Climate Change – in Britain’s Back Yard!” - now touring London, Nottingham, Wales, Belfast and Bristol. • “Waiting for the Light'' - solo exhibition London - OXO Gallery. David published his first book – “Waiting for the Light" in 2008”. It highlights and celebrates much of his life’s work spanning a wide range of locations and experiences during the last 25 years. He is currently working on his second book and a follow-up exhibition after his hugely successful solo exhibition in London's OXO Gallery in 2008. “I’m still passionate about photography. All aspects fascinate me; from capturing the first light of day on a frosty landscape or making the most of a bustling market in Vietnam to portraying the dignity of a wrinkled face in China” David spends much of the year travelling with his wife Wendy. When not travelling they live in England, near Sherborne in Dorset.