Anne Malatesta lived on the Lake Wales Ridge in Central Florida. She worked by day as an ecologist and specializes in the endangered plants and animals found in the area where she lived. She was an artist, a photographer and a musician for many years.

”It wasn’t until I moved to the desert-like part of Florida that I really found my style,” she said. “This area really got under my skin, and I started photographing things that ended up looking like something else entirely.”
Her art-photography captured abstractions and absurdities of nature, especially the sex organs of plants.

Anne’s work was exhibited in Jug Heads Gallery in the Village of the Arts in Bradenton, Florida. Jug Heads Gallery specializes in folk pottery, primitive furniture, and Florida artists like the Highwaymen.

Anne died in her home in Lake Wales, Florida on July 13, 2009. For over 20 years she was the "Adopted Mom" to the owner Amazing Dreams Publishing, Tracey Stevens. Her friends and colleagues plan to build a memorial native plant garden at the state forest office near Frostproof to honor her work and passion.