Artist Anna Stead, a.k.a. Thistlemoon, was born in London, raised in Worcestershire, and moved to the Cotswolds in 2016. She and her husband, two children, and two cats live there now in a little house on the very edge of a small town surrounded by fields and woods.
The charming landscape of her adopted home, with its “quiet wildness,” is a huge inspiration for her drawing, she says. In every field there’s deep-rooted history and folklore that can be explored and appreciated; she loves “seeking out the mysterious little corners in our landscape,” and these sweet details, ranging from abbey ruins to a spray of inkcap mushrooms, inhabit her art. She’s long been captivated by all things rooted in mystery, magic, and the past: those castle ruins, the secret paths into forests, stories about elves and wizards. A love for fantasy, myth, and history, as well as a deep connection with nature, inform and incite almost everything she creates. “At the moment I’m very inspired by ancient landmarks,” she says, “and have embarked on a project of drawing detailed maps!”
She’s known among friends and family for her love of trinkets and oddities, as well as collecting little pieces from her travels such as stones, moss, dried plants, and feathers. She has a particular fondness for owls, moons, and mushrooms, not to mention the exceedingly Tolkien-esque Tyn Llan Welsh pottery. As a result, you’ll find all manner of witchy little objects in any corner of her home.
No matter how far-flung her imaginings, she manages to stay grounded. Her workspace is in her “cozy little kitchen with doors out to our garden,” which she tries to keep open to let in lots of nature’s fresh air and soothing sounds. Her other essentials for a day of fantastical drawing are a “sweet cup of coffee, burning candles, and a cuddle from my most snuggly cat, Merlin.” Which sounds like the best way to work, in our opinion.
See more of Stead’s work at thistlemoon.co.uk or visit her on Instagram @thistlemoon.
