Meet Annie Furr | Children’s Illustrator and Mom

We had the good fortune of connecting with Annie Furr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Annie, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I think I would consider myself an accidental entrepreneur. My business really just came out of a desire to make more art and find my own creative voice. I’ve always had a passion for art and loved to draw, but after graduating college and having my children, I found myself in sort of creative slump. I’m the kind of person who needs external motivation to keep me productive, so I knew that if I made a business out of my art, it would force me to keep creating. Well, I was right about that, and I haven’t stopped since!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Well, if you would have asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, as far back as I can remember, I would have told you an artist! But when you’re a grown-up, you have to figure out what that actually means if you’re going to do anything like make money or have a real job. I actually started my business before I figured that out. As I continued to make art, I found the commonality behind the kind of work that made my heart sing: silliness and story-telling. Beautiful art is fine. Technical art is fine. Hang-it-on-your-wall art is fine. But for me, the only kind of art that’s worth making is art that tells a story. My favorite thing is when someone picks up a card or sticker or art print that I’ve made and just starts chuckling. I always know that’s when I’ve found a kindred spirit. That kind of art is what gets me excited.

Today, it’s hard to even consider myself a professional. I guess that if you are good enough at what you do to make some money doing it and spend a good amount of time improving that skill, that makes you a professional, but the only thing that got me here is loving it SO much and doing a lot of art. If you keep going, you will eventually get somewhere, right? I just kept taking the next step, which has led me to wanting to pursue children’s illustration in the publishing world. I am just at the beginning of that journey, so we will see where it ends up, but my dream is to write and illustrate my own stories and have them published. There have been plenty of times when I felt very discouraged because it didn’t seem like people around me saw the value in what I was doing as much as I did. That can come from comparison to others, products not selling that I thought were great, successes taking much longer than I felt like they should, and so on. But ultimately, if I ever felt like quitting, I just couldn’t because, again, I love illustrating so much. So I would just use that discouragement to fuel me to come up with new ideas and get better at my craft.

If I could share anything with people reading this, it would be a hope that my art reflects the God I serve and ultimately His infinite creativity. When I create I feel so much joy, and I know that’s because I’m operating in the gifts God gave me. Each one of us has that capability, and I want to encourage people to find what that is for them. Then go out and bless others with it!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh goodness. You’re asking this homebody to plan an itinerary.. Let’s see. Start your day in downtown Murfreesboro having coffee at Brass Horn. You need to order the iced Cuban, but be prepared to walk a bit because it’s always so busy, you can’t get a parking spot. Next walk down to Simply Pure Sweets for some really good breakfast pastries. They’re also just so nice there, they remember my name. Poke around at all the local shops on the square, and don’t forget to stop at The Grumpy Book Peddler for lots of good used-book perusing. For lunch, you have to eat Laotian food everyday the whole week at Sabaidee Cafe in Murfreesboro, my very favorite place to eat. During the week, make sure you take a day trip to Bell Buckle. Check out all the shops and antiques, eat at the Bell Buckle Cafe, and get ice cream afterwards. You’ll feel like you went back in time!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many voices of encouragement in my life, but I would have to say that my parents taught me the perfect balance of big dreams and small disciplines. My dad would probably say “reach for the stars!” and my mom would add “little by little”. Both of those things have been so important helping me be the person I am today, and I am so grateful to them both.

Website: anniefurr.com

Instagram: @annie.furr

Facebook: mademetocreate

Image Credits
Cailie Duncan