Anna's parents realised they had a four year old prodigy on their hands when the initial dismay at having their patio defaced gave way to astonishment at the picture before their eyes; an almost life-size, perfectly proportioned horse and rider with full bridal gear, saddle and stirrups.

Born in Paddington, London in 1974, to an architect and health visitor, Anna continued to astonish parents and teachers alike. Bucket sandcastles gave way to animal sculptures when on family holidays at the beach. Primary-school class-mates queued up to have their school book stories illustrated, leaving little time to complete her own work. Art classes at Ursuline Convent High School in Wimbledon, were spent drawing portraits of fellow pupils, who requested to take the work home to show parents, where they were promptly framed and mounted on respective parental walls (until finally the generosity ceased when she realised just weeks before her GCSEs' that she had a scant portfolio for assessment).

After an angst-ridden period of rebelling against the pre-ordained art college destiny, by contemplating and pursuing other more virtuous paths such as botany and zoology, she eventually succumbed to what came naturally, and studied art and philosophy, first at Kingston University before going onto Lancaster University. The combination of theory and practice taught at Lancaster has honed her natural abilities to produce an informed theorist and practitioner in contemporary fine-art and portraiture.