Janice R Anderson

After serving for many years as a consultant histopathologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, I took a planned early retirement from the NHS in order to pursue my long held desire to study art in a formal setting. I obtained a BA degree (1st class honours) in Art at the Cambridge School of Art in Anglia Ruskin University (formerly Anglia Polytechnic University), where I was able to combine practical fine art with art history.

The work of a histopathologist involves recognition of subtle differences in patterns and colours as seen by microscopy and undoubtedly this discipline has influenced my art. I like to observe and record the detail of plants and animals and I am increasingly drawn to fascinating patterns, that occur in nature. In my paintings I enjoy exploring different media, including oil, water colour and acrylic. In recent years I have concentrated on ceramic sculpture, i.e. fired clay which is coloured by paints or glazes.

In the past I have had a solo exhibition at the Royal College of Pathologists in London. I have exhibited in the Royal Watercolour Society Open Exhibition, with the Wild Art Society and have been a finalist on several occasions in the ‘Paint a Wild Life Subject’ competition. In 2011, I was a winner in the Hahnemühle competition for an abstract watercolour, which I based upon the complex of pattern I observed in the bark of a tree. In December 2014, with three other artists, I held an exhibition: "Four Artists", in the Divinity School of St John's College, Cambridge. I have been a member of the Cambridge Drawing Society (CDS) since 1991 and, in January 2015 I was elected as President for a three-year term of office, which ended in February 2018.

Painting and Drawing Animals

Whilst I depict many subjects, I am especially interested in the natural world and animals in particular. This has been a lifelong passion. As a child, one of my favourite school holiday treats was a visit to the Natural History Museum where I was able to sit and draw many different animals. It was not so crowded in those days and I was able to study many animals that I had never seen in real life. I still enjoy visits there but in recent years I have been fortunate enough to undertake many safaris in India and several African countries (see Travel). My husband and I have been privileged to observe many wild animals at close quarters in their natural habitat. I have taken literally thousands of photographs and I do not hesitate to admit that I use my own photographs as reference for my paintings and sculpture. I suspect that wildlife artists who attempt realism yet deny the use of photographs are not being entirely truthful. However, I believe the artist's picture is able to depict far more than a single photograph. In paintings I only use information from photographs that I have taken myself and as, invariably, I take numerous photos of any one animal, I am able to include far more information in a painting than is evident in a single photograph. I like to reproduce details of the fur, the whiskers, the marks on the skin and the horns, not all of which will be in focus in a single photograph. Multiple views are essential for achieving accurate anatomy in the sculpture of an animal or bird. As a medic I have a good knowledge of human anatomy and in addition I gained a B.Sc. in Anatomy prior to my medical degree. These both assist in understanding how bones and muscles are connected beneath the skin in animals as well as humans. It is my policy only to sculpt or paint creatures that I have actually seen myself.

CONTACT: jra20@cam.ac.uk - Telephone: 01223 248087