We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Frank Anthony. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Frank below.
Hi Frank , thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
Being a self taught artist I had to learn everything mostly by trial & error, along with internet research and watching the work of artist who came before me.
With the information I’ve obtained over the years I believe becoming an assistant to an established artist could have helped me speed up my learning process and have a better understanding what direction I’d like to go in.
The skill of Comprehending. Without that I wouldn’t have been able to understand anything I was told or figured out on my own.
The main obstacle that stood in my way was the lack of resources and opportunity.
Frank , 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?
My name is Frank Anthony Bornnard but I go by Frank Anthony. I’m 26 years old from East St. Louis Illinois but I currently live in Los Angeles California.
From what my mom told me I was creating this since the age of 4 years old; but What got me into this industry was being bullied in middle school because I couldn’t afford “Cool” sneakers. So one day my brother gave me a pair of his old Air Jordan 1s. From there he, my sister and I worked together to restore them and made them back new. That moment is when I learned that painting sneakers could be an outlet for expression.
Falling in love with the endless possibilities of what could be created and how things could be altered is what made the discipline for my craft come about but I later found out that it was also so a coping tool for my depression.
Eventually I I started creating in any way I could find which lead me to offering services for sneaker art, graphic design art, canvas painting, home decor painting and sculptures.
I believe the problems that I solve for my clients is being able to use my style of art to bring out their ideas in a fresh unique way that nobody has seen before. That’s also what I think sets me apart from others.
The work I’m most proud of is painting my first piece of home decor. It was a lather futon that took me 3-4 weeks to finish. It was something that let me know that it was no limits to what I was capable of.
The main thing I’d want potential clients/followers/supporters to know that There are endless possibilities to what I can create on and I’ll forever be learning out to better my craft and expanding.
Have you ever had to pivot?
When I was 18 I got accepted into college. I majored in civil engineering and minor in Art because My goal was to become an architect and change that way home and bridges were built like Frank Lloyd Wright but with a more creative approach like Michael Jean Basquiat. Unfortunately I couldn’t afford to stay at the university so I was removed from campus at the end of the first semester.
Being back in my home town afraid, depressed and ashamed I had to figure out what I was going to do with my life with limited resources and no connections. So I did the only think I knew how to do, I picked up a paint bush and began to paint out all of my frustrations and emotions onto anything I could but the main thing that made everything change for the better was painting on sneakers. From there everything else was history.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The mission that driving my creative journey is showing the younger generation that you’re in charge of your happiness and there is a lot of positive tools that’s can be used to help cope with the negative things in your environment and depression.
With the awareness of mental health being at an all time high I know it’s no way that I can stop doing my part to help.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kingdom_made?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@FrankAnthony
- Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kingdom_made?_t=8ZFjrjoBwUN&_r=1