Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Howell.
Hi Annie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Hello, friends! I’m Anna Marie Howell- my friends and family call me Annie. I’m short, sweet, and some say a little bit sassy. Hey, I’m Italian- what can I say? 🙂 I am an emerging artist living in the charming city of Greenville, South Carolina with my husband and two little girls.
I grew up involved in the arts; singing, playing piano, drawing and painting. However, it is only fairly recently that began to explore and express myself through visual art and sharing my work with others.
I always say that I’m an accidental artist. Although I was a highly creative kid, I never had formal art training. I didn’t know I could even paint until after college. After graduating from the University of Tennessee, I worked in marketing for about twelve years. During that time, I painted as a hobbyist and started to get commission requests from my friends and family. When I had my first daughter in 2017, I left the corporate world to stay home and work part-time with a marketing firm while painting part-time as well. In the summer of 2020, I made the decision to take my art career full-time, and it has been a beautiful whirlwind! I am grateful to be at home raising my daughters while pursuing my accidental artist dream.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think there are always challenges along the way when you’re growing. I think it’s important for people- especially entrepreneurs- to break out of their comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar or unknown. Growth is never achieved without challenges.
For me personally, in my art career, there are two main challenges.
The first and most challenging part of being an artist for me is TIME… or rather lack of time. As a full-time mom of two young girls, it is difficult sometimes to find time to paint or complete the other tasks that come with running a creative business. I have to be very flexible while simultaneously being disciplined with my daily routine. Being an artist doesn’t end with completing a painting. You are also a photographer, custom framer, marketing director, inventory manager, order fulfillment, accountant, creative director, and visionary of your business! It is very overwhelming but equally rewarding.
The second challenge I face is continuing to teach myself techniques and experiment with materials. As a self-taught artist, I have to really pay attention to what I’m doing and how I achieve results that I like because I didn’t go to art school and wasn’t taught certain techniques. And sometimes it IS a challenge to repeat a brush stroke or texture because I don’t know what I did- haha! But this “challenge” is a fun one- I love learning!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I create bold and colorful waterscapes and landscapes. I use mostly acrylic paint and often mix in metal leaf, pencil, and oil pastel details. I am inspired by both God’s handiwork- namely coastal landscapes like marshes, the ocean, sunrises, and sunsets- as well as the abstract shapes of man-made architecture (bridges and buildings). Every day presents me with new color palettes, new visions, and new ideas for my artwork. My creative vision is not to interpret nature realistically as we see it but rather offer nature as I feel it. Through bold colors and rich texture, my goal is to transport you to a place of peace and wonderment so that together, we can appreciate the beauty of the earth.
I think the magic happens when you create from your heart and soul. When you are able to tune out all of the outside noise, not compare your work to someone else’s and pull from your own life experiences, you create beautiful work. Trust your own inspiration and watch the unique beauty unfold. Beautiful artwork comes from within and people feel that and they connect to it. That’s what makes any artist’s work stand out and resonate with collectors.
“Tell your own story, and you will be interesting.” -Louise Bourgeois
Most recently, I’ve been working on a series called “Scenes Across the South.” The series features southern landscapes like marshes, oceans, barns, country roads and cows, mountainscapes, even roads lined with power lines. It’s a series celebrating ordinary landscapes and finding extraordinary beauty in them.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Oh, this one is so hard to answer… I was blessed to be raised in a sweet home with two loving and supportive parents and a little brother who has become my best friend. I had a wonderful, simple, happy childhood. When I think back to what makes me the happiest, it was definitely the summertime.
I think about the long, hazy, endless South Carolina summer days when we played outside until the streetlamps came on. The smell of the grill and freshly damp grass from an afternoon thunderstorm. Sun-tanned shoulders and the smell of chlorine from being at the pool literally all day long. I think about the sound of the cicadas, and the twinkle of fireflies as the sun dips behind the trees.
I think about trips to Seabrook Island to visit my grandmother. My brother and I would hunt for shark teeth and sand dollars with my dad for hours and then meet back at our spot to compare our findings. The sunrises, the sunsets over the marsh.
You simply cannot beat a South Carolina summer.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.anniehowellstudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anniehowellstudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anniehowellstudio
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnieHowellStudio
