Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Annie Brace. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Annie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

One thing I’ve learned from growing my art passion into an art career is it is an individual journey full of twists and turns, but one thing remains steadfast – you must be passionate about the process if you are in it for the long game. As cliche as it may sound, I have found it to be true that ‘when you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life’.

I’ve always had a love for art, whether it be charcoal drawing, watercolor, ceramics etc and when I went to college for Graphic Design, the digital component added to my love for all things design.

After graduation I worked for a company for several years as their graphic designer until one day I found myself at a fork in the road. The company sold to a multidisciplinary firm, where I had the choice to continue on working for them or take that leap into the unknown. A true fight or flight scenario.

It can be very tricky venturing out on your own. Nobody to hand you an upcoming proposal, a new project, free bagels on Friday; you are the architect of your career and with that comes a lot of hard decisions. At the infancy of my career I felt I had no choice but to take any and all jobs that came my way; and I did. However, there is power in saying no. We aren’t going to love every project opportunity that falls into our inbox, but there should be some level of excitement when accepting a job, otherwise it can become a bit of a rabbit hole and can be hard to crawl out of.

What I discovered early on was saying yes to a job, good bad or indifferent, comes more jobs of the like. When I did a logo, I inevitably got asked to do more logos. When I did a website, I got asked to do more websites. When I create an annual report, well, you get my point. This is where the rubber meets the road and you need to discern between the jobs you need and the career you want to build.

I love the fusion between fine art and digital design. I would often times incorporate some of my fine art or digital artwork into a client project which ultimately got me more jobs that incorporated fine art or if I were lucky, a fine art commission. This is the sweet spot. Once you can identify the aspects of your talent that spark that joy, acknowledge it and honor that in your decision making process.

I am proud to say that Corso Graphics is thriving and has been in business here in Alaska for nearly 15 years. Graphic design has taken a bit more of a co-pilot position in the last several years as the fine art component of the business has really taken off and has kept my passion for all things art alive and well.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Growing up in the Midwest gave me roots, studying art and design in Italy gave me wings, getting married and having my children gave me purpose. The integration of these three things set the foundation for the trajectory in my life as an artist.

With a background in graphic design and fine art, I find it exciting to transition between styles; from abstract acrylic painting, precision line-work with pen+ ink to a digital fusion of hand renderings and color application. Each style tends to a different creative outlet that I am incessantly hungry for.

You can find my artwork splattered all across Alaska and throughout the world! For several years now I have been creating designs for Jones Snowboards which you may have seen while hitting the slopes!

Thank you for the continued support… I look forward to filling your walls and hearts with my artwork for years to come!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media is a finicky beast to put it mildly. One day you feel like you’ve got it all figured out and the next day, crickets. My biggest piece of advice when navigating the world of clicks is to just show up and be consistent. Every day doesn’t have to be a win, but staying active and available can keep you on the forefront of your audience’s mind.

Don’t worry about followers! Followers will come and go and it truly is just a number. What we should be focusing on are the connections we have already made. Don’t overlook your audience that consistently shows up for you in an effort to gain more meaningless follows. Show up and show up in a genuine manner to continue building those connections.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.corso-graphics.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/corsographics
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/corsographicsdesign
• Other: www.etsy.com/shop/CorsoGraphics