Anna Horsnell

Born in Nova Scotia, Anna Horsnell SCA has been painting for over 40 years and has worked and studied in various parts of Canada. She was first recognized as a landscape painter, however today she is best known for her abstract paintings. She exhibits regularly in group and solo shows, and her paintings hang in public and private collections across North America, including the Art Bank of Nova Scotia.

Over the years, Anna has been very active in the local arts community, and in 2009 she was awarded a Progress Club Women of Excellence Award for Arts and Culture in recognition of her accomplishments in her profession and community. She is an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists, and a past Board member of Visual Arts Nova Scotia.

Her work is featured in several books - Nova Scotia’s Contemporary Artists: Volume II, and International Women Celebrate! In 2015, she published a book entitled The Sarah Diaries to accompany her series of paintings highlighting the merchant marine industry.

Artist’s Statement

"My name is Anna Horsnell and painting has always been a comfortable language with which to express myself. Although I may have an abstract idea or direction I wish to explore, spontaneity is crucial to how I work following each mark, each brushstroke with another, until I understand where the painting wants to go. Colour, shapes, mark-making. The constant challenge is to find the right answer within endless possibilities, trusting my instincts. The real beauty of abstract art begins with an invitation to surrender yourself to the image and how it makes you feel. Interpretation is very personal. My greatest satisfaction comes when someone makes their own personal connection with my art."