Today we’d like to introduce you to Anne Marie Roure.
Hi Anne, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am an artist in St. Petersburg, Florida. As a young girl, I had an interest in drawing. However, I didn’t recall my interest in painting – until a few years ago. Recently I discovered photos with images of me with paintbrushes in hand at around age 3. I fell away from arts when I went to school and later pursued my career in Financial Services. In recent years picked up a paintbrush again – at a client event I was hosting. I had a strong reaction to that feeling of creating a painting. And, I began to paint more frequently – anything that caught my interest. That continues to be my method – I paint in a variety of styles, primarily using acrylic on canvas, and paint by interpreting music, moods, and images I find beautiful. I also like to paint animals. I am a self-taught artist – painting from the feeling of what I see or experience. My style tends toward vibrant color and ranges from impressionistic and abstract, with some realism at times.
On occasion, I have taken commissions for specific pieces from some clients, but most of my work comes from inspiration when it strikes me. I call it – being in a ‘flow.’ I never know at the time a painting begins – how it is going to finish… Sometimes the style just appears – and it may change throughout the process. The feeling of taking a canvas and then seeing something I imagine come to life is extremely rewarding to me. But, more rewarding is having a conversation with someone who reacts to one of my pieces. I want to continue to elicit emotion and bring joy to others the best that I can.
When I began painting as a hobby a few years ago, most of my paintings were gifted to family and close friends. It flattered and surprised me when several encouraged me to take my gift more seriously. I began visiting galleries and the artists I met also encouraged me to pursue more with my painting. Mid-year 2021 I decided to take the leap of faith and launched Artworks by AMR LLC, built a website, and left my corporate full-time career. Soon after, I began showing my paintings regularly in local galleries and selling works. Later that fall, I had the opportunity to open my studio in the Five Deuces Galleria. I work there with my boxer-dog Pablo, who is known to my studio visitors and collectors as ‘Pablo the Apprentice’. His welcoming smile is a draw to visitors during the St. Petersburg Art Walk events, the humans ….as well as the visiting dogs.
I continue to learn from my artist peers, my clients and business team members, and my experiences. I offer original paintings, and limited edition giclée prints, and have also developed a line of giclée art cards from my paintings.
Most recently, I’ve ventured into creating usable pieces such as tumblers, kitchen linens, magnets, and other items – including holiday cards, which have started off doing very well. However, my first love will always be to have a paintbrush in hand, with a blank canvas nearby.
This entire experience turned quickly from a hobby to my second career and has been extremely exciting and rewarding. The greatest joy I receive is when someone reacts with emotion to one of my paintings. I’m extremely grateful for my capability and the opportunity – I credit God for opening a path for me to enjoy and share this gift.
And, my hope is to bring my studio and website visitors a smile.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The business side of being an artist is a completely new venture for me – as well as owning, managing and marketing a small business. I spent over 29 years in the corporate world prior to opening my company, Artworks by AMR, LLC. In a large corporation, there are always people or divisions with the expertise to do specific job functions and the whole is the sum of the people and their efforts. Now, as a small business owner, I have responsibility for all of the pieces. In some cases, I elect to hire out some of the work and in other cases, I do the work. Deciding which is best has come from trial and error. I have a business plan and it continues to evolve with learnings – things I have tried that have worked and things that either failed or the timing or approach wasn’t right.
Also, it has been an expensive process – investing in high-grade canvases, quality image work, giclée production, legal and website work, and studio space. Along the way, I am learning from other artists how and where to obtain things needed and searching out ways to keep costs reasonable so the ultimate paintings can be affordable to targeted buyers.
Another challenge has been learning how to build a social media presence- which venues, what works and what doesn’t to gain visibility, engage followers and generate website visitors. Coming from the regulated financial services world – this was outside the parameters of how we engaged with clients, Now, it’s a critical part of being in the art business. It’s all about visibility and online presence. Becoming personal to the public world has been a learning and at times uncomfortable for me. Thankfully my team has encouraged and guided me along the way. And I’ve gotten to know some great people through embracing the challenge!
It’s always a surprise to see which paintings will appeal to a buyer – and can vary significantly depending on their tastes, budget, and needs. However, in all of this early learning, I have landed on staying true to painting what I want to create and am thrilled whenever it connects with someone who happens to be looking for just that type of piece of art. The challenge is to keep in front of the potential clients – yet not get lost in that focus, and protect my time to continue to create new works.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a self-taught artist. I began to pursue my recently discovered talent in 2021. I paint mostly using acrylic in a mix of styles – primarily impressionistic and abstract – although some realism. I am recognized by my collectors for capturing movement and feeling in my paintings… and always love the reactions felt by my patrons. I am known for using a lot of colors… my paintings have been described as vibrant and full of movement.
What I paint is influenced by my emotions – my reactions to imagery, music, moods, and visiting special places, people, and animals. I use quite a bit of color and movement in most of my work. I am proud that I can and do paint across a broad spectrum of subjects as well as styles – and although some individuals have favorites they have expressed to me – such as my palm tree scenes, my animal paintings, or portraits – others gravitate to my music-themed paintings. I am just happy to continue to feel inspiration from a variety of experiences and will continue to capture and translate those my way – the best that I can.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Most people don’t realize that I am relatively new to being an artist – starting in 2021.
I didn’t pick up a paintbrush from the time I was 3 years old until somewhere around 2018 at a client art event I was hosting…somehow, the brush, paint, and canvas lit something inside that brought my curiosity to a canvas, and ignited my passion for painting to the forefront of what I enjoy most.
Pricing:
- Commissions – Start at $450
- Original Paintings – Vary by size and complexity
- Giclées Limited Editions on Archival Fine Art Paper – $50 – $75
- Art Card Limited Editions – $20 – $30
- Drinkware, kitchen linen sets and other items avail – $20-45
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.artworksbyAMR.com
- Instagram: @artworksbyAMR
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artworksbyAMR
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/artworksbyAMR
- Twitter: @artworksbyAMR
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/@artworksbyAMR6601/featured
