Ann Kipling facts for kids

Ann Kipling L.L.D (1934 – August 30, 2023) was a Canadian artist. She was known for her unique drawings and prints. She often created portraits and landscapes. Her art showed things as she saw them, almost like a dream or a feeling, rather than exactly how they looked.

Kipling had a special way of drawing. She would draw her subjects over a long time. This allowed her to capture small changes in movement. Her art often looked flat, but the lines made her subjects feel alive. She used lines to show the energy of what she was drawing. Her work is sometimes compared to Chinese landscape painters. It also reminds some people of the watercolours by Paul Cézanne.

Ann Kipling used very little color in her art. Her main tools were etching, drawing, watercolours, pens, pencils, and pastels. She lived and worked in Falkland, British Columbia. This area became a big focus for her landscape drawings.

Early Life and Learning

Ann Kipling studied art from 1955 to 1960. She went to the Vancouver School of Art. This school is now called Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She learned from artists like Jan Zack and Herbert Siebner.

In the 1960s, she started to become well-known. Her first big art show was in 1971. It was held at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Around this time, she moved to Lynn Valley. She lived and worked there for several years. She became very interested in drawing nature. She started to develop her unique style. She would draw landscapes outdoors for many hours. She also spent a lot of time drawing people who posed for her.

Her Art and Later Years

Ann Kipling once said about her art, "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." This means she loved to capture how things change. Even if something looks still, it has movement and energy.

She had many art shows in Canada from the 1970s until recently. In 2009, she made 141 drawings. Most of these were of the mountains around Falkland, BC. These drawings were shown in a 2011 exhibition. It was called The Solitudes of Place: Recent Drawings by Ann Kipling. This show was at the Burnaby Art Gallery.

Her common art supplies included a drawing board, graphite pencils, colored pencils, and special paper. She often named her artworks by the date she made them. This makes her collection of art feel like a daily journal. Her art can be found in important places. These include the National Gallery of Canada and the Audain Art Museum. Many other art collections across Canada also have her work.

In 1995, the Vancouver Art Gallery held a special show of her past works. This kind of show is called a retrospective. In 2004, she received the first Audain Prize. This award is named after Michael Audain. It is a very important award for artists.

Personal Life

In 1961, Ann Kipling married Leonhard Epp. He was a sculptor from Germany and Canada. She lived in Sunshine Falls, BC, and Falkland, BC. She also enjoyed practicing Tai Chi and yoga.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

Ann Kipling had many solo art shows. Here are a few of them:

• 2014 Ann Kipling: The Falkland Drawings: a thirty-five-year survey, Kelowna Art Gallery (Kelowna, BC)
• 2011 The Solitudes of Place: Recent Drawings by Ann Kipling, Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, BC
• 2000 Ann Kipling: Prints (traveling show), Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, BC
• 1995 Ann Kipling (traveling show), Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
• 1971 Drawings by Ann Kipling (traveling show), Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver

Awards

Ann Kipling received many awards for her art:

• 2008 Honorary Doctorate, Emily Carr University, Vancouver
• 2004 Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts
• She also received many grants from the Canada Council. This included the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award in 1987.
• 1993 Project Assistance for Visual Arts, BC Cultural Services grant
• 1960 and 1964 Koerner Foundation grant
• Emily Carr Scholarship
• Vancouver School of Art Travel Scholarship