Anna Åström   

«There are two things that give me a special energy – zest of life – Nature and Creation.»

«I grew up in a very small village surrounded by immense forests of high pine trees, whispering beech trees, animals and myths. I remember the stream with the invisible bottomless well and the black lake with water lilies where we bathed during clear summer nights and skated in winter. I remember the little orphaned sheep that we had to bottle-feed in the spring and the vast meadows lit up by thousands and thousands of dandelions… Infinite memories that I keep and care for like little treasures and that serve as inspiration for my work every day.»

Everything starts with a dream…

«My father had a huge workshop where I was always welcome and as a child I used to spend hours and hours drawing, painting, cutting, composing… Creating…»

When Anna was 14 she had the opportunity to present her paintings in a collective exhibition for the first time and two years later she did her first solo exhibition. At that time she painted with acrylic and big (at least bigger than now) and it was a combination of paintings and poems, which was her way of leading the spectater by the hand through the labyrinth of feelings, thoughts and reflections that she wanted to express and share.

The small details make life big…

«I have always paid special attention to small details; a smile, a stone, a breeze, a shadow, a shell, a word, a ray of light,..»

«The idea of ​​painting miniatures came about in the following way: I hadn’t hold a brush for a several years – I had changed country, had my two children and started my jewelry workshop,.. Everything in my life was going great but for whatever reason I was not feeling very “up”. I had the feeling that life was taking me “ahead of myself “– suddenly I was having a hard time seeing the beauty in each moment and enjoying the day to day.

One weekend I was going to Stockholm to visit my little sister who had just moved to a new flat and I wanted to give her something special and it occurred to me that I could paint something. I mentioned it to my mother and she said: “Let it be something small because her flat is so tiny.”

I made a very small watercolor painting and the experience filled me – I suddenly felt that special energy again – so when I came back from that trip I left a fixed space for the watercolors on my desk and a promise myself to always find some daily time to capture a small image on paper; an image giving harmony to me when I paint it and to the person who’s looking at it.»

«Painting miniature watercolors is very similar to meditation – it requires exceptional concentration. For me it was a challenge not only because of the size but also because of how to think/how to paint. With acrylic I started with the background and built up the image little by little – the details, the figures… With watercolor miniatures it is the other way around – every detail has to be in my head from the beginning. It requires all my attention because I can’t draw beforehand as the pencil tip doesn’t allow it – it’s too thick. I visualize the image I have in mind and follow the invisible lines with the brush.

I usually make round tinies in the same size as a 1€-coin (23 mm diameter) or 4×4 cm. Even if they are so small it takes me quite a while to paint each tiny world and at the same time, each exhibition requires a quite a few works due to its size, so the preparation time for an exhibition or art fair is several months. That means that I usually paint for example autumn in spring time and summer during the winter.»

Anna has her workshop in the shade of old oak trees where she paints, writes and creates her silver jewelry but the good thing about painting small is that she always finds the perfect corner where she feels the right peace to pick up the magnifying glass and the brush and create the perfect little world for someone.

Very occasionally, once a year or maybe every two years, she make a very special – exclusive – work of approximately 1 meter wide: it is one big crane made of several thousand small cranes. Each little crane is unique and measures 3 to 9 mm flying all in the same direction. Depending on the daily time she can dedicate to this work, it takes between 2 to 4 months to finish. The first time she made this work it was for an exhibition she called «Every little detail matters». Apart from this crane of cranes she had series of miniatures with themes; «Every starling matters», «Every drop matters», «Every smile matters», «Every grain of sand matters»,..

«I think that each and every one of us who walks on this earth has a responsibility towards the planet and towards the future in every small gesture we make.»

«My intention with the miniatures is to give peace and calm to eyes and soul. At my exhibitions there are always magnifying glasses available for visitors to observe the miniatures with time and tranquility. A woman once told me: ´It is so special to see your tinies – I feel as if I am peeking through a secret peephole that only I have discovered.´ «

«My dream is to reach more people – to make them see the big in the small – the magnificent in the tiny. Give to their trees leaves, to their birds feathers and to their feelings colors. Give to their hours minutes, and to their minutes seconds. I think that would help make the world a little better every moment.»