AN ARTIST and printmaker who was born and bred in Skipton has just opened a new studio and gallery in the town.

Anna Tosney specialises in drypoint and monoprint artworks, firmly based, she says, on depictions of rural scenes from the Yorkshire Dales and the effect of the changing seasons on them.

The 39-year-old, of Embsay, is a former pupil of Skipton Girls' High School. She completed a degree in fine art at Cardiff University in 2000, and says she is "really excited" about her move to the new studio, at Central Chambers on the corner of Otley Street and High Street, above Thomas the Bakers.

The studio will be open two days a week – on Thursdays and Fridays, 10am to 4pm – for people to see her at work, and she will also be running a series of printmaking courses.

Anna said: "I've always felt lucky to be born here and I have always got a lot of inspiration from the landscape around me, whether it's sheep in the fields, the birds in the tree or farmers at work.

"I taught English in Madrid for several years, which I loved, but the pull of home became too strong.

"I’m excited to have such a wonderful, bright new studio that is also so centrally located. Skipton is such a vibrant town with loads going on."

Anna sells her distinctive pieces direct, and they are on sale at several galleries in the north of England and in South Wales, with the most local being the Lime Gallery in Settle, Hawksby's in Haworth and Art Parade in Saltaire.

The drypoint technique is where a sharp steel tool is used to scratch directly into the surface of a printing plate – Anna uses plexiglass – and a line is inscribed into the surface, pushing up a burr, like the furrow of a ploughed field. The plate is then inked up and put through a printing press.

A monotype is a one-off print, where an image is produced on a flat surface – again plexiglass for Anna – and transferred to paper.

Anna added: "I am always happy to talk about the techniques I use or any other aspect of my work. If anyone want to learn more, I am running a series of courses in the next few months."

Anna can be contacted via e-mail at atosney@gmail.com or by calling 07838 033172. Visit her website at annatosney.co.uk for more details about her work.