Forbidden Whispers is run by Anna Bird and her partner Michael Self. They have both been active within the Art Community for a number of years. Below you can read a brief history and profile of each of these Artists.

Anna Bird

I first got interested in digital art when I was 15. I dabbled in photo manipulation and have stuck with it ever since. As time went on and my skills progressed I decided to move onto software like Poser. This was much to my partners' influence.

Am I an artist? Well... I wouldn't call myself an artist, but more so a hobbyist that dabbles from time to time and occasionally creates something half decent that people like.

As I started working in Poser more, I started submitting my artwork to sites like Renderosity, art zone,dream slayer artworks, render-spice and many more. Doing this got my artwork seen and exposed, and a year or so on I have had the great opportunity to work with fellow photographers, artists and the odd magazine.

I have been lucky enough to be featured in parable visions magazine and project eve magazine and will be featured in future issues.

Alongside all of this I have had the opportunity to work with a very talented American photographer, Toria Tyler. This allowed me to reawaken my love for photo manipulation by combining her photography with my digital works. I will also be working with Toria in the near future.

People who have influenced me? First of all would have to be my partner Michael. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have started using Poser, and wouldn't be on the path its taking me now. He's offered me alot of support and has been very patient with me throughout all the tantrums... Of course artists who have influenced my work are Luis Royo, Jonathan Earl Bowser, Julie Bell, Larry Elmore, H.R Giger, Dorian Cleavenger, and well the list goes on.....

Michael Stelfox

Well where do I begin.. Or did I begin..

As far I can remember I have always had a pencil in my hand ever since I was a young child. For me drawing was a way of escapism and a place I could let my fantasies run wild. But as with most of the good things in life I lost touch with my artistic side through a few wrong decisions. But I happened to find my way again a few years ago when began working with a piece of software called Poser. I enjoyed the way the software worked and how easy it was to create works which gave you quality results. Of course for me I demanded more, so I started using my drawing/painting skills and painting over my renders trying to give my work a more painted feel rather than a 3 Dimensonal feel, as traditional mediums were always my favourite to work on as it gave me more of a feel of accomplishment. But every artist is different...

I have since tried my hand at working with digital mediums as a way of painting as it allows you much more freedom and ease of use rather than having to put up with the smell of turps and waiting for your paints to dry etc. The beauty of digital also is if you make a mistake or you don't like something you can so easily take it out rather than having to repaint over or rework a whole painting. Lazy I know, but it offers you so much freedom and today we have such software as Painter which actually tries to emulate the feel of natural mediums and does them well.

For me though, sketching is one of my favourite mediums and sadly I don't do enough of it. Something of which I am working on for the future as I would like to work more with traditional mediums more than digital, but digital will always be a fun way to express yourself either way you look at it.

My work is inspired quite heavily by artists such as Luis Royo, Dorian Cleveanger, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell, Michale Mobieus, Brom, Lorenzo Sperlonga to name just a few. But I am mostly inspired by what is around me, I think we've all been out on a walk and seen something which we look deeper into and our imagination creates a picture in our mind. Be it an old twisted tree trunk and or a babbling brook.. we've all been there and we all have our own places of retreat and inspiration.

So what does the future hold for me... Well I'm just happy expressing myself through my art. It has always been a channel for me to express what's in my mind and how I feel. And if people can read my pictures the way I intended them to look and feel it makes it all worth while for me... But foremost it is my passion and nothing more...