Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Pearson.
Hi Anna, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I imagine that I answer this question in a stunning ball gown holding some shining award: “And now I want to thank my mom, my producer and my amazing team – without you it wouldn’t be possible…” Jokes aside, looking back at the beginning I see my story as a fairytale, not without some magic and a fairy-godmother’s intervention. I went through a lot of hardships to be where I am now being a girl from a small Ukrainian town who arrived in Dreamland (aka California) with the luggage of a failed marriage and being a single mom. I craved some radical changes in my life and at the same time I wanted to go back to what always was my soul’s outlet – art. After settling in California I started sketching things that were around me, mostly flora. Best decision ever was to share my drawings with others via social platforms. It connected me with new friends and first clients. Big pivot in my career as an artist happened also thanks to social media. A manager from a local mall, my fairy-godmother, saw my work on instagram and offered me a big gig: to paint a mural at said mall. I had zero experience and not that much confidence, but I jumped in this opportunity. That work became a turning point for me. I realized what I can do and never stopped since then.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No road is ever smooth, not even the perfect Californian highways. Mine is no exception. I loved drawing ever since I was a child but never pursued it because I was under the spell of “the starving artist” stereotype. I was raised by my mom only and saw her struggle to make ends meet. My coming of age was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union and there was no room in my life to chase silly dreams, I needed to survive. Thus I don’t have a formal art education and my success comes directly from passion and learning from my mistakes. But what might seem as a disadvantage can be quite the opposite. Not having an academic training allows me to have a non conformal approach and fresh outlook that is not clouded by canons and rules. Plus I think that I learned from the best anyway: from a very tender age my mom was taking me to museums with the best art collections. Being submerged in art and absorbing it as a child has formed me as a person more than anything else. I still go to museums and art exhibitions with every opportunity I have. Another struggle worth mentioning is that being just a good artist is not enough nowadays. To have a shot at success artists need to wear multiple hats at once: be a marketing specialist, manager, PR strategist, business owner, accountant, promoter, SMM specialist, photographer, videographer and so much more! Sometimes doing that boring side work takes so much time that there is very little left to actually create. But without it it’s nearly impossible to make as an artist.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Right now my main focus is on painting big scale murals and custom paintings. My process always starts with careful research to ensure that the art we will add to a space will enhance it. I brainstorm it first by myself and then with my clients to find the final result that would make us both happy. There is a lot of planning and preparation before I approach a wall or a canvas. That is almost a bit compulsive, but I enjoy the process. The outcome is even more satisfying that way for me. Creating something for a client I always take in consideration the context my art will be in, the client’s personal story, the environment, the community etc. I also do painting workshops every once in a while. What I think sets me apart from others is my combined experience as a human being. Every person is unique and that’s why I believe we all have our own voice if we just let it shine without trying to imitate others. That’s what I tell people who come to my workshops. If you want to be unique just be yourself. That’s enough.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Remember what country responded to the Covid crisis the best? It was Norway where they didn’t need to reinforce the “Stay in” order because people were not eager to hang out and get together long before it was trendy.) As it turned out I was better equipped for the pandemic then most people. A homebody by nature, I already had freelance occasional gigs, worked from home and had homeschooling experience. So I didn’t suffer a bit. One thing I noticed is how much “white noise” we had in our daily schedules and how all of a sudden I had all that mental space to be creative when the world was paused. It’s such a luxury nowadays to have time to make art, experiment and learn. It was a time of big growth for me as an artist and I wish our society would have more opportunities for artists to be able to have that head-space for creativity without the need to chase income. Sounds more like an utopia but a girl can dream, right?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pannaarts.com/
- Instagram: @p.anna_arts
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100078375153898
Image Credits
images are mine and some are by Tanya Perez
