Hello! My name is Anisa, Flow has asked me to blog here this month, because I had a lot of fun illustrating the Dutch mindfulness issue, for February.
I was born in Lansing, Michigan, and I was a very creative child. I was always interested in sewing or painting, or anything that involved colors. I studied printmaking at Minneapolis College of Art & Design. After college I just wanted to travel the U.S. so I funded my trip by sewing hand made dresses, and selling them at music concerts, It was a great way to see my country. It also started me into a business printing, sewing and later manufacturing my own clothing. I made clothes and sold under the label Makool for many years. When I gave birth to my son 5 years ago, my love for travel and adventure won again and we decided to move from Portland, Oregon to Amsterdam, NL.
While living in Amsterdam I fell in love with the canal houses and the bicycles and I began painting and drawing. I started taking classes in illustration, and before I knew it I had a new career.
Last year we moved back from Amsterdam, to Portland. Portland is on the West Coast of the U.S. right above California. It’s in a temperate rain forest. It rains a lot here, but the rain makes it very green. The city is covered in moss, ferns, fog and old growth trees. It feels good to live here, the city seems to glow green, it’s very healing. I missed this living in Amsterdam.
I’m excited to share my creative process as well as some of my inspiration over the next few weeks. I hope you’ll visit my website and follow me on Instagram.
