We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anna Partlow. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anna below.
Anna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?
After graduating high school, I made the decision to pursue design in college. I was dedicated and passionate, and I couldn’t foresee many issues arising. My goal was to work as hard as I possibly could to get a degree so that I could have a direct path to pursue the field of my dreams. This, however, became much harder for me over time. After spending the first two years of my college experience trying to meet deadlines, keep my bills paid, and deal with ongoing mental health issues, all while trying to stay creative, I found myself going through an intense burn out. Creating became extraordinarily hard, and I couldn’t find inspiration in many things anymore. Even though I was aware of this intense unhappiness, I pushed myself well past this point. I thought that if I could just struggle through those last two years, I would get my degree and I could put all of this behind me. That isn’t what ended up happening, though. I got through about another year of school with its many ups and downs, until I realized that if I didn’t take a step back, I would be at the point of (what felt like) no return. I ended up having to drop out and it haunted me for the next few years. I felt like I was giving up, and that I didn’t have what it took to be a dedicated artist. At times I still struggle with this. It can be incredibly intimidating to share my work and to put myself out there when it feels like I couldn’t complete my initial goals. In the past couple of years, though, I have worked very hard to overcome these feelings of inadequacy to let myself fully create in the way that I want to. It hasn’t been easy, but I believe that I would have never made some of my favorite pieces if I hadn’t had to struggle through that feeling. Challenging myself to get work past this has made me change my mindset on how I approach art, and how personal I can truly make it to who I am and what I’ve gone through. I’m not sure where my creative journey will take me, but this obstacle has taught me how to push through discomfort and be more open to new paths in life.
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?
I am a 24 year old artist currently based out of Knoxville, Tennessee. I have a passion for detail oriented work, and a focus in the human form and societal structures. I go back and forth between painting, design, and illustration with a desire to expand my work and challenge what my interests are. When getting to know myself and my art, it’s important to expect experimental and new work with almost everything I make for the time being. While the goal is to always be pushing my boundaries on what I can create, my work is more experimental now than I believe it will ever be. I am still figuring out my exact place with art so to say that I have one set style or interest would be a misconstrued way of describing what you will see from me. I would love to take you on a journey through trial and error and figuring out a little bit more about myself and the world along the way. I hope that we’ll laugh together, cry together, and push each other to be better together.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect is the process itself. I find that no matter what medium I work in, from start to finish, I’m finding peace with every brush stroke, every color choice, and every click of a button. I find so much comfort in solving the puzzle in every piece that I’ve made. Because of the fact that my work is incredibly personal and close to my heart, the creative process gives me time to slow down and think through my choices. I think through the experiences that led me to where I am, making the art that I am making. I am processing, healing, and growing while I spend hour after hour nurturing the same subject matter until it is completed. Making art has changed so much about who I am, and has made me more okay with my mistakes, my emotions, and my specific struggles in life.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
We have seen a huge cultural shift in how we treat artists in the past decade. With the rise of social media, we have found many new outlets for artists to be supported. To keep a thriving creative ecosystem, it’s important that we as a society continue to make the effort to support small businesses rather than larger corporations. Supporting artists and creatives socially is tremendously valuable, but it’s also important to make the conscious effort to buy directly from artists when you are in a position to do so. For a long time, surviving as an artist seemed only possible if you were able to successfully sell work in galleries. Now, we are able to see many, many creatives making a living off online stores and social media platforms. It’s becoming more accessible and more realistic for people to pursue what they’re passionate about because of communal support and giving people a platform to showcase and sell their work. If we can continue to create and support these avenues for artists, we will be able to see more beauty and creativity flourish.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.annapartlow.myportfolio.com
- Instagram: @aeparthur