I've been absent from the crafting community that birthed me as an artist for quite some time. Yet, echoes still filter through every now and then. I realize that my work and my former nom de plume still float in the web-verse and are remembered by many. I find I'm picking up those forgotten threads, viewing them with new eyes, and new ideas, a new mindset and a new life.
I am the artist formerly known as Anna Banana Stamps. I designed stamps for several companies, even my own for a very brief time, sadly some of those companies no longer exist. I was published in all the popular rubber stamping/ paper crafting magazines and sadly some of those are no longer in print. I still have the stamp sets (mostly), the samples and tear sheets. I am ashamed to admit, much of it gathers dust in a box under a bed or in the back of a closet. I have albums of ATCs I traded, and scrapbooks of travels and memories. Boxes, frames, scrapbooks and more of art, photography...
I sold supplies and held classes and workshops in my own home. From there I went to work in a scrapbook retail store, a boutique that was shut down in 2007, after I started classes at college. I finished my degree - working in various portrait studios and even as a traveling portrait photographer. For a brief time, I worked as an image editor / photographer for an online retail store. While in school, my art became a class assignment or quick holiday cards and gifts for loved ones. Its circle shrank for a while. I even thought of putting it away altogether.
I had many life changes besides earning my Bachelors degree at 42. My two sons grew up and left the nest, and a difficult marriage ended. I met a wonderful man who brightens my world unlike any other. Some relationships and friendships ended, others were reconciled, and new ones cherished.
Life isn't so much a circle as a spiral, things may look similar, but are different problems or blessings to be reconciled.
I started selling, designing and submitting my art following a serious car accident, while I dealt with some serious health issues. 5 dark years were followed by 5 wonderful, bright years. A recent accident has posed a challenge, but I have conquered it once, I have faith I will again. And what will get me through? Art of course. Art for arts sake.
The still life was for a photography class on lighting. It was done as a bit of fun for the instructor.