Success in the slow life: Anna Gibbs
Questioning her own sense of self convinced realism painter Anna Gibbs to escape London life and settle in Banks Peninsula. The rising star shares her story of success, motherhood, and creating captivating artworks to promote native birdlife conservation with Metropol Deputy Editor Nina Tucker.
Anna was born in London and grew up in various places across the south of England and the United States, embedded in art. “I have always had a compulsion to be creative and my passion for making art is a core part of who I am. I don’t think I would be able to repress it, even if I wanted to.” In whatever she did, there was creativity. Every piece had a purpose, “to evoke a significant and positive emotional response in those that stand in front of it”.
Upon finishing school, Anna had to choose between Art College or the coveted Oxford University, choosing the latter which “provided a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore deep philosophical questions”. She continued to refine her skills at Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art. Like many in the arts industry, Anna had to search for a ‘proper job’ after finishing university. She took up teaching, which allowed school holidays to continue her creative passions, painting in the communal spaces of the house she lived in with others at the time. “My poor housemates would have to lift my paintings off the oven to use it, but I think they did find my enthusiasm infectious,” she remembers.
It seems she found her happily ever after, fulfilling the dream of becoming a full-time artist after such time in the trenches. “The financial barriers were significant and daunting, and it was difficult to give it enough of my attention to find my ‘voice’ as an artist,” Anna explains. After selling the odd piece to friends and colleagues, the dream crept within reach. She sought a slower life, a rural one where she could raise a family and use art for something meaningful, moving to Banks Peninsula, where she’s “so much happier” now. It “made sense” to change her entire lifestyle, “I was able to see an avenue here in New Zealand where I could potentially make it work,” she says. They moved to a lifestyle block, with no signal and an unreliable landline. “When there was a power cut, your only form of communication was physically going to see someone,” she laughs. Anna gained an apprenticeship with Judy Curnow, who trained under the late and great Kiwi landscape artist Tim Wilson. Doors opened, and Anna soon found herself exhibiting countrywide.
The road as a self-employed creative is an unnerving one to walk. “Half the battle is building up a solid base of confidence in yourself, what you are making, and what you are saying,” she tells me. From selling out a collection in her very first gallery exhibition to winning the Premium Artist Award at Auckland’s 2023 Art in the Park exhibition for Kākāpō in the Forest, which raised both awareness and funds for the endangered bird, Anna has achieved many feats. Resilience and persistence are what she says kept her from “throwing in the towel”. “You have to spend so much time creating work and then put in so much effort to get anyone to look at it, let alone pay you enough to generate a profit on that artwork,” she reflects. “I remember doing the maths once in the early days and working out I was earning less than $2 an hour for a painting.” It was a sacrifice she was willing to make to do what she loved. 
With such a commitment to the conservation of native birds, it was “soul-crushing” each time someone could not connect with the deeper meaning. She gained a sense of conviction in her message. Criticism propelled her further, “to communicate better the importance of protecting these unique species and why that is so valuable and in critical need of our attention,” Anna explains. A leader in what is becoming a growing area of art globally, Anna’s conservation efforts are visible in every piece and through the opportunities she has had to visit nesting sites and sanctuaries.
“I use my paintings as a platform to inspire and educate people about the importance of native species, primarily birds, and aim to make the audience connect with and see the value of them.”
She’s found so much more meaning and reward in creative conservation work than those arbitrary goals as a Londoner, where a sense of achievement came from “social status and materialistic aims. I don’t think concentrating on those things was bringing me joy. I am so fulfilled now totally immersed in creating every day, surrounded by nature.”
Such a day in her life now looks like breakfast shared as a family, and a day’s work spent in the studio, with several pieces on the go. She will squeeze in a lunch break and perhaps a walk with their dog. Each night ends spoilt by her husband with a delicious home-cooked family meal. Living on a lifestyle block, overlooking a lush valley and the sea, in a zone that the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust is working to make ‘predator-free’, is her obvious ‘happy place’.
A slice of paradise filled with regenerative bush and native birdlife, the perfect backdrop and unmatched inspiration for her art. Inspiration is Anna’s favourite part of creating, and it spurs from anywhere. A painting of a tūī feeding on red hot poker flowers came from “observing how sunlight goes through dried grass in the summer and creates a golden glow like the background of my paintings. The striking colour of the flowers with the tūī feeding on them, set against the golden grass, was so captivating I felt compelled to translate it into an artwork,” she says.
With her second child imminent at the time of writing, Anna often thanks her rural off-grid environment for giving her the time and space to nurture her children. She calls motherhood and conservation the “cornerstones” of her identity. “Acknowledging and confronting some of the damage that we’ve done as current and past generations, and playing a small part in improving the future of our planet and our children’s lives, is rewarding and grounding.”
