Annie maybe best known as the actress who has played Coronation Street's Deirdre Barlow
for more than 40 years, but Annie has another side too.
Welcome to another side of ... Annie
Annie's latest exhibition (October 2012) at the Wendy Levy Gallery in Didsbury, Manchester was filmed by Granada for a documentary on Annie's 40 years in Coronation Street.
Annie's debut exhibition in 2008 at FeelCreative's gallery in Didsbury, Manchester also created quite a media buzz.
Where the art is ... actress Annie beside one of her canvases
Underground Creative
The exhibition immediately attracted the attention of the local papers, with the Manchester Evening News devoting half of its front page to a picture of Anne, and a full page write-up inside. But that was nothing compared with the 24 hours that followed. The gallery had to open at 5.30am on Wednesday to allow the GMTV cameras inside to do an exclusive live feature. This culminated with an interview with Anne on ITV, broadcast live from the gallery at 8.30am. Literally seconds before that went on air, she had also found time to do a live radio interview with BBC Radio Manchester. And later that day, Granada Reports arrived to film a news piece. If that wasn't enough, the national media were now featuring the story, with The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Telegraph all devoting large articles to the exhibition.
It's been an amazing week of non-stop publicity, with the exhibition attracting far more attention than even we ever thought it would. We've had customers driving from far and wide to see Anne's work, and the stream of visitors hasn't died down yet.
It just goes to show what a popular and much loved figure Anne - and Deirdre - is.
The pictures themselves received widespread acclaim, drawing favourable comparisons with Salvador Dali and Turner Prize winners.
Telegraph Art Blogger Victoria Holman
... echo something of the solitude and glamour of Edward Hopper's work. Others have the mottled, warm light of the Impressionists.
The Sun
Daily Mail