Artworks by Anna Astrom

I grew up in a very small village, in Sweden, surrounded by immense forests of high pine trees, whispering beech trees, animals and myths. I keep infinite memories that I care for like little treasures and that serve as inspiration for my work every day.
My father had a huge workshop where I was always welcome as a child. I used to spend hours and hours drawing, painting, cutting, gluing, sawing, imagining… Creating…
When I was 14 I had the opportunity to present my paintings in a collective exhibition for the first time and two years later I did my first solo exhibition. At that time I painted with acrylic and big and it was a combination of paintings and poems, which was my way of leading the spectator by the hand through the labyrinth of feelings, thoughts and reflections that I wanted to express and share.
The idea of painting miniatures came about in the following way: 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 felt that special energy again. 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.
I live in Spain and I have my studio in the shade of old oak trees although the good thing about painting small is that I always find the perfect corner, indoors or outdoors, where I feel the peace to pick up the magnifying glass and the brush and create the perfect little world for someone.
My greatest source of inspiration is always, always nature. I look for the small but essential details that make the image beautiful, strong, interesting, transmitting the feeling of peace and balance… all that in just some centimeters.
I use classic watercolor where the paper is the only white and the water is the light. Brush only. I feel most comfortable with brushes in sizes 20/0 and 4 (for the background) on fine fiber cold pressed watercolor paper.
Painting miniature watercolours 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 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 4x4 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.
When I started painting watercolor miniatures, a new world opened up for me – personally but also professionally - a dream came true. My “tinies” have a large audience; I have had solo and group exhibitions in Spain, Sweden, Belgium and Japan and I have participated in art fairs all around Europe annually. I’m lucky to be represented at the Spanish embassy in Stockholm.
I hope to reach out to more people wourldwide – to make them see the big in the small – the magnificent in the tiny. Give to the trees leaves, to the birds feathers and to feelings colors. Give to the hours minutes, and to the minutes seconds. I think that would help make the world a little better every moment.