Meet Chris And Anna Holmes | Artists and Certified Bob Ross Instructors

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris And Anna Holmes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris and Anna, why did you pursue a creative career?
After working for 15 years in IT I have felt that creative aspect was missing from my life. I have started painting more just to relax after work. Purely by accident (a happy little accident) I have found a Bob Ross painting class while on holiday in Canada and the idea of teaching others to paint started there. I have attended Bob Ross teacher training in Florida and then in Muncie, Indiana where I have met my husband Chris. Chris has been painting on and off for years – but hasn’t intended to teach. Doing Bob Ross training was more of an achievement in itself for him rather than a career plan but that changed too. After we completed teacher training we started delivering classes as a side job – Chris in his home town of Henderson, Tennessee, and I back in England. After months of planning, paperwork and logistics, I have moved from England to Henderson to join Chris and pursue the business full time. The interest in classes has been growing rapidly – we meet a lot of wonderful people wanting to learn how to paint just like Bob did. It’s very satisfying to see our students get confidence to create and grow artistically. We get a lot of students who come to our classes to relax and leave their worries behind for a few hours. Our why of pursuing the artistic career has evolved – first we were doing it for our own mental health benefits and then it grew to have an impact on our local community.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We create peaceful and serene landscape and seascape art in Bob Ross painting style. We are using the skills we have learnt to bring our own ideas to life and we’re very proud of that. We paint Tennessee inspired scenes and also take inspiration from the English and European places I have visited. It takes a lot of practice and persistence to build the skills but when you love what you do, you keep going. There are some hard days when you feel stuck or unmotivated but the creativity will always nudge us forward. The challenging part of what we do is marketing and actually running the business – but we keep learning, reading and improving continuously. We’ve learnt that there is nothing perfect in life and it’s better to start somewhere and keep improving, rather than aim for perfection and never get going. Through our brand and our story we want to give people an encouragement to create, take a pause and enjoy the little things and find time for self care. We want our art to give a sense of peace and safety, a moment of serenity in the bustle of life.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Our favourite places to eat are: El Ranchitos in Henderson, Catfish Cabin in Jackson, Maggie’s in Enville, Hagy’s in Shiloh, Sombreros in River Heights. If you visit Chester County, BBQ is a must – Hunt’s and Jacks Creek BBQ Pit being our favourites.
Places to visit: Shiloh National Military Park – Civil War battlefield, Pinson Mounds – archeological site, Chickasaw State Park for beautiful walks, Casey Jones Village in Jackson and Arts in The Village art gallery.
If you like antiquing, Henderson and surrounding areas have a lot of places to visit – one of our favourites being The Back In Time Antiques in town.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Our business but also life story is connected to Bob Ross. We are teaching his technique of course but if it wasn’t for Bob Ross teacher training, Chris and I would have never met. So Bob Ross is a big influence in our life. Chris grew up with strict parents and didn’t have a lot of friends growing up – but Bob was there for him on TV, encouraging his creativity and reassuring him that he can do anything he can put his mind to. For me – I wanted to go to art school but last minute my funding fell trough and I couldn’t go. Twenty years later, through Bob Ross and his encouragement I have started painting again, regained my confidence and decided to pursue it further. The teacher training from the Bob Ross company was also an amazing experience. We had fabulous instructors – Nic Hankins (Tennessee native, who you may now recognise from the Joy of Painting series 32) and Faye Fletcher. Both very talented artists and wonderful instructors. It was because of their encouragement and teaching skills that we are now here, being able to teach and share the joy of painting with others.

Website: https://www.serenityincolor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Serenity-in-Color-100095710025157/

Other: email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Images taken by Anna and Chris Holmes.