Anne-Bé Talirz was born in 1953 in a border town in the east of The Netherlands. Together with her twin sister, she grew up in an area surrounded by meadows, woods and streams. Already in kindergarten she enjoyed drawing and was playing in nature. She was always very curious, seeking to discover and often finding things that were not easy to recognize. Her horizon was never wide enough.

After high school she continued her education in graphic design and philosophy. She worked in this field until she started a family. Many travels were undertaken and many books were read about other cultures and historical places. She also lived in various places like Cyprus.

Later she completed her degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis on graphic art prints. Her thesis project was a book, not made of paper but zinc plates, depicting Jerusalem the Eternal City.

Her first introduction to art was through her art teacher who inspired creative freedom, encouraged the seeing and sensing of objects and supported individual development.

Anne-Bé finds her inspiration mostly in other cultures, historical cities and places, in old architecture and everywhere where either visible or hidden traces have been left. Through these many observations she created a catalogue of sketches, notes and photographs, out of which something always flows into her latest work.

Anne-Bé has her own print studio with a large hand operated etching press with which she can print etchings, linocuts and woodcuts. Very often the paper used for printing is also handmade, by herself, sometimes including other materials. Occasionally she embeds the etched and cut out zinc plates in the soft paper pulp, creating special and unique objects. Graphic prints can also turn into three dimensional objects, like for instance “Thoughts are boundless” or the leporello diary “30 days Malo”.

During her artist in residence stay in Italy she painted a 10 meter long, 1,60 meter wide piece in a dry riverbed of the Torrente Livergon.

Recurring themes in her work are history, traces of times past, stream of life, freedom and transparency. The fascination and interest in other cultures creates connections and allow differences to melt away.

The versatility in her work is striking. Even though her main focus is still mostly graphic prints she also works with many other media. She makes sculptures and installations, sometimes completely independent pieces, other times also thematically connected.

The materials used are varied, for instance fabrics, transparent paper, plaster, zinc, stones and many more.

Since 1993 Anne-Bé has had many solo and group exhibitions in different European countries as well as the USA.

Anne-Bé would like for the viewer to be able to lose themselves in her work, to always discover something new and to trigger an emotional release. She wants to show the beauty of the world, to show its different facets of transparence, variety and vulnerability.

Of course her work style has changed over the years. In the beginning her work was colorful and figurative in the style of fantastical realism, later her works have become more abstract. Technically, etching has become predominant in her work.

Anne-Bé has continued her education with various teaching courses. She has trained and developed herself in to an intercultural trainer for kids and adults and successfully completed different art projects with schools. Anne-Bé regularly teaches workshops and seminars for kids, teenagers and adults.