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

Annie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I’ve created many original pieces that till this day make me sit back and wonder how I created them but if we are speaking on a project that has been most impactful, I’d have to say that my most recent collection “Flowers for our Warriors” is it. I have always been an advocate for Women Empowerment and Self Love. This collection was truly a depiction of that. I was invited to exhibit my work in honor of Women’s History Month this past March-April at the Kissimmee City Hall in Kissimmee, FL and so I wanted to make sure I poured my all in to the pieces I wanted to exhibit. I created a 4 piece collection of a few cultural warrior women that have fallen short from receiving the flowers they deserve for all of their valiant struggles and strength. I wanted to shine light on them in a way that poetically transcribed who they were and how their involvement in the success of their culture has unfortunately faded in to the background of their history and the everyday life. There is one specific common theme for this collection I intentionally made a center focus. That is that none of the women I painted had actual facial features. My reasoning for this was to allow my audience to be able to see themselves as one of those women. To motivate relevance and inspiration for each individual as they look at each piece and feel that one of those women represents them as well. It’s by far my favorite project to date.

Annie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Sheesh, this question always gets me. What I do and who I am or better yet, who I think I am? I think I am a creative jack of all trades and master of all of them in my own ways. Now, I know that doesn’t really paint the complete picture but I’ll explain. I was born in Callao, Peru and raised in New Jersey since the age of 4. Since that young age I have been blessed to be surrounded by nothing less than skilled individuals. My family was a great inspiration to the start of many of my crafts. I mean, in a family of a minimum of 30 very close members it was pretty hard not to pick up a few things from each person. My family is composed of everything from Chef’s to Dancers to Tech Gurus & Crafters. They have always had a hustle I admired. My hustle was Art. It was my happy place since I can remember. I would find enjoyment out of DIY crafts as gifts for family, or set the artistic bar a little higher in school by hand drawing most of my presentation projects. That passion has followed me throughout many stages in my life and I never fail to incorporate art in to anything that I put my hands on. I had an uncanny need to learn more, learn anything, learn everything so I took on different jobs throughout my early adulthood that really helped me grow as a creative. Never did I think working customer service at Macy’s or a IT Support Tech for Staples would influence my art but it definitely did. In any job I had, I found the creative aspect of it and used it to my advantage. I learned everything I could and as many other artist, jumped straight in to another endeavor that challenged my potential. Now at the age of 35, I have gathered enough knowledge to fulfill most of the needs in my profession on my own. I’d like to think I’m not the typical artist. I create art for the purpose of providing a moment of serene stillness to those who admire it. I don’t have a specific style because I can’t seem to find any that keeps my attention long enough. I dabble into all different types of techniques and forms without limitations because I myself am vastly diverse. I have come to understand that I am not meant to limit myself nor my skill trades so if I can express my passion in more ways than one, then that’s exactly what I thrive to do. It allows me to reach a greater audience and in doing so it fulfills my goal of leaving each person a small part of me. My intent is to leave my mark through my art, not just in a physical sense but in a spiritual, mental and soulful way. My art is meant to inspire, motivate and be resonated with. It’s my contribution to society when all else falls short.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Though making it through every day in life is a lesson in itself, I’d have to say the greatest lesson I have had to unlearn is the notion that I can do it all on my own. Conflicting, I know. I struggle with it on a daily basis. My mother has raised me to be very independent, always encouraging me to fight for what I want and do things on my own, because I am very capable. Thanks mom, Yes, I am very capable, but I also get very overwhelmed and will self sabotage because as many great artists, we are our own worst critiques and when you criticize your own skills as much as me, it takes twice as long to get anything done. It wasn’t until I met my wife that I genuinely accepted that I don’t have to do everything by myself. Not always is it done better if you do it yourself. I have a team that supports me beyond belief and they have taught me to manage my projects in ways that relieve stress rather than invite it. So I learned to network and engage with others who share the same passions and work with them to curate a lot of what I have accomplished thus far. You know that saying “A team is only as strong as its weakest link.”, well I had to learn that being a team of 1 was far less productive than a team of 2 or 3. Now, I believe that to be true for anything in life. I learned that by reaching out to others to assist me wasn’t diluting my craft but actually influencing opportunities for them to practice their trade as well and as a supporter of all creatives, that is essentially what my mission in life is. Teamwork can effortlessly make everyone’s dream work!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.commonvibearthouse.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/annie.espejo
• Other: www.instagram.com/commonvibearthouse