“Meraki is Greek for “doing something with soul, creativity, or love - to put something of yourself into your work.” Every piece Anna creates has a story. She creates with love and soul and she leaves a bit of herself in everything she does. She is her truest self when she is creating art that inspires. What she creates with her hands is her way of expanding, liberating, exploring, and processing the world around her.”
Anna is an artist living and creating in the Denver Metro area in Colorado. She was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ and later went to college in Santa Barbara, CA where she received a Bachelors of Fine Art. Anna has been creating since she was a child, starting with wood and glue and later moving into charcoal, paint, and canvas.
What is your background?
I have been creating since I was a child and fell in love with art when I was in high school. I got a bachelors in Fine Art, focusing on drawing with pencil and charcoal and painting with acrylic and oil on canvas. In the years since I finished college, my relationship with creating art has changed and evolved and is now central to how I engage life.
What was the moment that you knew this was what you wanted to do?
There have been several significant moments throughout my life that have contributed to my pursuit of art. The moment that I knew that being an artist was what I wanted to do came a few years ago when I used art as part of my healing process in working through pain in my past. Not only was the act of creating through that time pivotal to my healing process, but when I shared my piece and story with people, they echoed how powerful and beautiful my work was. From that time on, I knew this is what I wanted to do - not only for myself and my inner work, but also for others and what they could experience through my creative process.
Who or what inspires you?
I am inspired by things that are ordinary or often overlooked (like drinking fountains or sewer caps) but that are unique and beautiful in a simple and unassuming way. I am inspired by traveling, experiencing and seeing different cultures and environments. Through travel, I am able to expand and grow but also reminded of how small and finite I am. The world around me is vast and beautiful and I want to experience as much of it as I can to bring pieces of it with me and into my art as I process and move within the world around me.
How do you seek out opportunity?
I look for what inspires me, what I cannot forget or ignore and run towards it. Oftentimes, the things that scare me the most are the things I am most drawn to. I try to pay attention to those feelings and be aware of when they make me a little shaky, and pursue those themes, routes, experiences, inner work, and challenges to my skill. And along the way, I feel myself become more alive and thrive.
What role do you have in society?
I wear many different hats and hold several different roles in my community. I am an artist - using art to help me process, inspire, and liberate myself and those around me. I am a wife and mother of 2 beautiful (and extremely active) boys, and I am a birth doula supporting birthing people and their partners throughout their entire pregnancy and birth journey.
ANNA OTAOLA
WWW.MERAKIBYANNA.COM
email: anna@merakibyanna.com
instagram: @Meraki.Studio.By.Anna
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