This is a beautiful book about re-examining your approach to painting in order to find new ways of looking at nature and questioning your long-established working methods. It’s fair to say that, in the hands of anyone but Ann, it simply wouldn’t work.

This is no theoretical exercise, because Ann has done exactly what she describes. This is not so much a journey of discovery as an account of explorations in uncharted territory. Quite simply, we know how it turns out because the results are here on the page. The work is recognisably Ann’s, but with a freshness born out of re-thinking everything.

Just as a caterpillar breaks itself down to become a butterfly, so Ann has deconstructed her painting methods - in the light, she says, of the crisis facing the planet. She has relocated and immersed herself in nature, taking renewed inspiration from her surroundings and finding fresh ways of expression.

This is not a book about technique, although there are plenty of examples and exercises, but rather a deep exploration of the creative process and its expression in watercolour. Triumphantly, it works.

Batsford - Hardback - 144 pages - Colour throughout