Ann Richards was born and raised on a farm near Assiniboia, but she currently resides in Vancouver. She graduated from the Assiniboia Composite High School in 2014. Richards is inspired and motivated to create art by observing Saskatchewan’s outdoor landscapes.
Aside from being a successful artist, Richards is a talented athlete in the sport of volleyball. She has lived various places, including Orlando and Kelowna. Richards will graduate from the University of British Columbia with a BFA in Visual Arts in April 2020. Her art works have mostly been shown in British Columbia. However, her art has also travelled across the pond to Europe. An international jury selected her lithographic print Fractured Sphericity in June 2019, resulting in a victory for Richards, who won third prize in the Lessedra Mini Print Annual Exhibition in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Richards specializes in stone lithography, one of the earliest forms of image printmaking. The process of stone printing was invented by Alois Senefelder in 1796, who printed sheet music through this new method. Later, modern artists such as Toulouse Lautrec and Pablo Picasso adapted this printing style. The traditional process for this procedure starts when the artist draws an image onto a piece of grinded limestone with a flat surface. The stone is treated with a mixture of acid and gum arabic. The parts of stone unprotected by the grease-based image are etched away, with segments of the etched image still retaining water. Next, an oil-based ink is applied. The ink is repelled by the water, but the ink also adheres to parts of the image. To conclude the process, the inked representation is then transported to a blank sheet.
Richards is fascinated with creating images from stone lithography. “My stone lithographic work is often meant to visually display my sometimes transcendental experiences, working with each stone as an individual. Vulnerability, physical pain, patience and surrender are all demands the stone places upon me throughout this process and will continue, as I discover what each stone requires from me.”
Richards will have her art displayed in the Kay Kristo Room at the Assiniboia and District Public Library from January 1 to February 29.
