Ann Kipling

Early Life and Education

From 1955-60 Kipling studied at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design). She studied with Jan Zack, Herbert Siebner, and Rudy Kovak before gaining her footing as an artist in the 1960s-70s, most notably with her first solo show at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1971. In the 1960s she moved to the Lynn Valley where she lived and worked for a number of years. During this period her interest in depictions of natural phenomenon grew, and she began developing her individual style which involved working in extended sessions for her plein air landscapes and sittings with models for portraiture.

Later Work

Kipling has described her practice as follows, "When I am drawing from the figure or the landscape, I am fascinated by the change, movement, energy and transformation of form in a seemingly static situation" (Ann Kipling, 2003, For the Record, Drawing Contemporary Life). She has shown regularly in group and solo shows in Canada from the 1970s to the present day. In 2009 she made 141 drawings, mostly of the mountains around Falkland, BC, which were the focus of her 2011 exhibition at the Burnaby Art Gallery (Burnaby, BC), The Solitudes of Place: Recent Drawings by Ann Kipling. Her common tools of the trade are a drawing board, graphite, coloured pencils, pens and BFK Rives paper. Her works are commonly titled based on the day they are made, rather than the location, creating a sense of chronological unfolding or journaling in her ouvre. She has works in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada and in private and public collections across the nation. In 2004 she was the recipient of the Audain Prize (named after Michael Audain).

Personal life

In 1961 Kipling married the Canadian sculptor Leonard Epp (b. 1932). She has lived in Sunshine Falls, BC and Falkland, BC. She is a dedicated Tai Chi and yoga practitioner.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

Awards