This past weekend I participated in an event entitled “Taking Flight in Sonoma” sponsored by the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco, Flexjet with Bombardier Learjet and Challenger private jets, the Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, and J Winery.

The weather could not have been more perfect.  The sun was out and fully illuminating my original oil paintings.  And as a result I’ve scheduled several private studio appointments with individual collectors.

I also began a nice conversation with the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Flexjet and I mentioned that my paintings are often offered as very special gifts.  These become a heart felt and everlasting gift because it not just a painting that’s being given, it’s really a unique and personal once in a lifetime experience.

Imagine choosing your favorite wine and walking along the vines with the acclaimed winemaker and artist. Then the artist returns to the vineyard to capture the colors of the vines in oil exclusively for you. And this custom creation is scaled to your space.  And then you experience the creation of your painting, through the artist’s eyes, via a dedicated creative diary on annrea.com.

Collectors often celebrate the completion of their painting with their own “unveiling party” and an opportunity to host the artist, that’s me . And a few lucky collectors get to look forward to the possibility of seeing their painting featured in my upcoming book series “Colors of Terroir” to be published soon and available on annrea.com.

We started chatting about FlexJet’s clientle.  Because so many of FlexJet’s select clientle are wine enthusiasts, this everlasting art and wine experience could not be a more perfect, personal, and unique gift to thank them for their business.  I’m looking forward to the possibility of collaborating with Flexjet.

This month, January, marks my fifth year in business, my decision to paint full time.  What inspired me to do this?  A number of things led me down this extraordinary path.  But if I had to name a single person who inspired me to make this decision, it was a coworker I met when I was suffering from anxiety and working as a corporate consultant, her name was Angela.

Angela and I worked together on the same very politically charged government account as project management consultants.  When I think about it, I can’t even believe that I forced myself to work each day.  I found the work so incredibly boring and the management was dreadful.

Angela and I worked with a young, insecure, and power hungry consultant from New York. We were quite sure that she was sleeping with the boss. Ick!  And so we’d break the tension by laughing and making jokes.

Angela was one month older than me and she was recovering from stage four breast cancer treatments.  Her black hair framed her attractive face in a short-cropped curl.  I always wanted curly hair.  She told me that hers used to be straight too but that it was very common when women lost their hair from chemotherapy for it to grow back in curly.  This made me pause and I became thankful for my hair just the way it was.

Angela and I both were both deeply dissatisfied with our jobs.  I wanted to paint and I learned that Angela always wanted to be an interior designer. Unbeknownst to Angela, I looked at her one-day and thought, “why the hell don’t we just do it, why are we staying here?”

Angela and I moved on to different project management gigs. Hers to Hawaii and mine to San Francisco where I had an episode with a self proclaimed born again Christian manager.  One day he actually cornered me into my v-shaped cubicle at PG&E.  I woke up the next morning with a different resolve.

I could not again drive for 45 minutes, park, wait for the ferry, and sail into the financial district for yet another hour, one more day, not one more day of my remaining life.  I decided to quit, to find a way to paint, to live the life I was given, and to develop the talent that Wayne Thiebaud himself recognized.

I’m blessed to have another year ahead and I’m going to make it the very best that I can.  And I look forward to dedicating my first book to Angela.

When is the book coming out?

I’m working on it!  Soon.  Very soon.
 My book was actually born out of an abandoned book project.  I completed over 100 paintings of Sonoma vineyards that were to be featured in a book for a major winery, a very BIG winery, maybe even the biggest. Wink. Wink.

It sure seemed like a wonderful opportunity at the start.  I even met with a top editor at Chronicle Books.  We had lunch, twice. But like with so many corporate sponsored projects, the priorities revolve.  I was handed to one brand manager and then another, and then I could hear the sound of crickets chirping.  They didn’t care about art, they cared about their reviews and the politics that threaten what little job security they have.  Can’t say I blame them.  The project lost momentum. Then it was just plain deserted.  Leaving me, holding the bag.

Based on the enthusiastic response to my work and continuous national media attention fueled by word of mouth I decided to redirect my creative energy.  I was still determined to create a book, one that I could control, one that I would be proud of, and one that would not be tainted with a tired marketing message from a major winery.

So I decided to take my lemons and make some damn lemonade, and the idea of “Colors of Terroir, and artist’s tour of Sonoma” was born.

Last year I was commissioned as a surprise birthday present to paint Bob Proctor’s garden, host of the move “The Secret” and author of “You Where Born Rich”.  I was flown to Toronto and hung out with the man who appears on “Larry King” and who coaches Ellen DeGeneres.  And while I was there he coached me a bit.  Through Bob I met very notable authors, including Mark Victor Hansen co-author of “Chicken Soup for the Soul Series” and Peggy Mc Coll author of “Your Destiny Switch”.  Last year Jonathan Fields profiled my business in his book “Career Renegade” published by Random House.  These authors, along my friend Leslie Harrington, an amazing book designer and art director in London, convinced me that the very best path to take was the rapidly evolving and exploding path of self-publishing.  Traditional publishing is in fact withering.  So really, it all turned out for the best.
The content for the book is now complete.  The layout and editing is underway. And this is my book.  Nobody’s book but mine.

Now I’m beginning the sequel, “Colors of Terroir, and artist’s tour of Napa.”  This book will feature the privately commissioned paintings I create in and of Napa, no more corporate involvement.  I already have two patrons whose paintings will be featured in this book.  Now I’m looking for the rest.  So if you own a Napa vineyard, or you simply enjoy wine from a Napa vineyard, and you would like to commission a painting, and help sponsor this project, I’m currently accepting applications for 2010.