About me

I think that it is important to understand some things about the art you enjoy and purchase, and I also believe that we can appreciate art more fully when we can place it within the context of the artist and their process. So let me introduce myself and my work!

 

My name is Anna Bland, and I grew up in Ames, Iowa, where I currently live with my wonderful husband, homeschool our four children, and host our small house church. I went to a liberal arts school called Central College and studied English, art, and religion. In my studio art classes, I gravitated toward drawing and also enjoyed painting. I enjoy a wide variety of art styles and periods, and I am always particularly drawn to Impressionism, certain types of abstract art, and classical and Renaissance art. In the years after college, I continued to create art of various kinds, exploring watercolors and pen and ink, always coming back to pencil drawing as my first love.

 

I am inspired by nature, particularly the sky, which you will see a lot in my work. I find it fascinating how ever-changing and always beautiful and powerful it is. A lot of my work comes back to my fascination with the sky, whether it be in landscapes, skyscapes, storms, beach scenes, space-inspired pieces, or sunsets. This fascination with the sky is one of the reasons that I love the fluid art medium so much. It lends itself beautifully to the wild freedom and unpredictability of the ever-changing sky.

 

I am also a writer, and have written a wide variety of essays and some song lyrics. I have aspirations of one day writing and illustrating children’s books, as well as working some of my essays into book form someday.

 

I have spent my entire adult life battling chronic pain, which has definitely had an impact on both my physical ability to do certain types of artwork (anything that requires long periods of standing or sitting upright, such as painting intricately detailed oil paintings at an easel, has become increasingly impossible for me over the years), but which I also believe has brought a certain amount of depth of insight and emotional range to all my different creative pursuits.

 

In 2019, I began exploring the medium of fluid acrylic painting and just kept coming back to it and experimenting, and that's where I am now. I have been loving the process, and I'm so excited to be sharing my work!

 

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you enjoy the work I've shared here!