Anna Spence studied at Edinburgh University and La Sorbonne. After completing her MA she then worked for Sotheby's in Hong Kong and London. In 1997 she move to New York to train as a Tromped'oiel artist, working for Lucretia Moreni. Anna has travelled widely, always carrying her sketchbook recording every detail of her surroundings. She begins working by sketching in pencil, using textural marks to depict various tone sand colours. The canvases are painted away from the subject, thus creating a feeling of the experience, and allowing full exploration of the surface quality and expression of paint. In 1999 Anna returned to the Isle of Wight where she now finds her inspiration. Since then she has had five solo exhibitions on the Island and been part of mixed exhibitions elsewhere.