Born in North Staffordshire, went to Cardiff College of Art, then led West Sussex College of Art weave department. She has travelled, lectured and exhibited all over the world, and her work is in many public and private collections, including 24 pieces purchased by the V&A.

She is a Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts, London, and a Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art. Awarded MBE for services to textiles.

She has guest-curated many national exhibitions, and had a few good ideas: e.g The International Exhibitions of Miniature Textiles, The Ann Sutton Foundation, The Arundel Gallery Trail, Sight Specific, etc
She has led several projects which involve commissioning applied arts for public buildings, including the award-winning Southampton City Art Gallery in 1992, Winchester Cathedral Plans for New Textiles, and The Point (Phases 1,2 and 3)

Ann Sutton is known, internationally, for her innovative work in woven textiles, and has written nine books on the subject. Unusually, she worked in both the design and the art fields, but never as a craftsperson. After a successful retrospective exhibition instigated by the Crafts Council in 2004 she decided to drop the past, step into the unknown and explore what was to her a new medium, paint. The results will be shown at Dovecot during the Edinburgh Festival 2010.