A MOSELEY ARTIST

This month Moseley B13 Magazine chats with the wonderful and colourful artist known as Anky.

I visited Anky in her vibrant flat in Moseley just before the lockdown started. As soon as you enter you are greeted by her natural flair for all things art-and-crafty. Despite having a cast on her foot, Anky was very mobile when it came to showing me her stunning art. There was so much of her talent, there wasn’t enough room on her walls to display it. Anky isn’t just an artist but also quilts and knits, and her rooms were awash with everything she has created, from blankets on the bed to quilts on the chairs. Anky first found her love for art when she was “a kid” and spoke of her childhood affection for scribbling. I am going to guess here and say it was probably a bit more than scribbling because she was complimented on her “scribbles” by adults, and some teachers noticed her ability to create art and offered kind words. These words of praise encouraged Anky to paint and draw more, and she became interested in artists, especially Vincent van Gogh. When she explored more of his art,

she decided she wanted a copy of 'The Church at Auvers' but couldn’t find it anywhere so she opted to replicate this famous piece of art. I must say it's a very good copy. One thing she particularly loves about van Gogh is that his colours are all wrong, making the art come to life. The trees writhe in some of his paintings and look like they are going to take off and leave the canvas. Anky describes her style as quite traditional and she enjoys landscapes and portraits, with one or two musical psychedelic-inspired pieces. She admits that she is inspired to create art if she sees something beautiful. Anky's first serious piece of art was her Jimmy Hendrix portrait, and I think the picture jumps to life because she describes being able to “see” his music. Though it was her first piece of art, it is still one of her favourites. Hendrix was an inspiration to Anky and her portrait does him justice. Anky is using her time wisely and she explained that the upcoming social isolation would be a great opportunity to catch up with all the projects that she has been putting off. She jumped up as fast as she could with her plaster-covered

foot and showed me an amazing quilt she is currently working on. She is a very ingenious lady and subsequently showed me a chair that she has covered with her hand made-quilting because she couldn’t afford to get it professionally re-covered. Knitting has become one of Anky's current creative pastimes. She has expertly knitted a couple of unique and colourful blankets for her bed. Any surplus items she makes are generously passed on to Oxfam; with a smile, Anky added that she believes Oxfam will do very well out of her in this current crisis situation. One of Anky's inspirations in the world of knitting is a man called Kaffe Fassett who became popular in the 1980s when knitting wasn’t fashionable, and became a knitting artist. Fassett inspired her to be creative with knitting, and she is. Anky knits or does patchwork; she sits and creates in the evening with the TV or music on, in her clubs with other pensioners, and even carries it around with her to do when she is waiting for trains, for example. If I were to sum up Anky's works in just three words, I would choose dreamy, pretty and happy; she definitely has a distinct style and each piece oozes the personality of the artist. Anky described the reason for her creating art as “to make the world a more beautiful place”. I believe she does. To enquire about Anky's art please contact us at the magazine and we will pass your query on to her. -Debbie Aldous