We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anjalé Perrault a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Anjalé, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
I’ve often lived between worlds, but being a chameleon for sure helped me mitigate the spaces I found myself in. Because of this, imposter syndrome was a very real, all the time challenge that I translated into a “fake it ’till you make it” game with myself. As a kid I was a singer and a stage actress, so performing came really easily to me – working through nerves, practicing scenes until I was 100% prepared. I came to learn quickly that when you’re prepared you’re not the imposter, even when you feel like the odd one out. So even though I was the kid who shopped at the thrift store (not because it was cool but because it was what we had to do) I made damned sure that I was the smart one, the prepared one & the fearless one, so that even if I felt like an imposter on the inside I could move through the world with confidence knowing that I was ready for anything.
As the decades have passed those insecurities still pop up, but I use the same tools to move through them. I remind myself that I am well prepared for the job that I do in life. I am a classically trained oil painter with over 25 years of experience – will there be artists in the room with bigger names than me? Yes. But am I the best at painting the paintings that I paint? HELL YES. So I guess my final answer to this question is that the way I’ve overcome imposter syndrome is to get really great at giving myself fantastic pep talks. There is no other me, doing what I do. And there is no other you, doing what you do, in the way that you choose to do it. There never will be. If that’s not reason enough for us all to go out and fly our freak flags then I don’t know what is.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
After running my art school for 16 years I chose to close with the onset of COVID and pursue my independent painting career full time. When I graduated from UCLA I remember thinking that it was such a brave move to be an independent artist so to find myself come full circle here now feels like destiny, in a way. It’s been liberating and truly a second coming of age to find my voice at this stage in my career. I began painting commissions, murals, and engaging in community projects in the South Bay, and after a couple years became obsessed with this new desire to paint an edgier body of work that may or may not be what people want to hang on their living room walls – which felt really exciting to me. That’s when I realized that my goals were much bigger than I had originally imagined for myself.
In the Summer of 2023 I stopped taking commissions and began painting work for my solo show, which is set for September 7, 2024. I have so much to say with this work, which truly tells the story of my life – despite the fact that it figuratively is full of snakes, jungle leaves, perfume bottles, and gummy bears. This work feels like the deepest expression of my inner self on canvas, and I’m in total flow and bliss every time I’m painting. Which, in order to get this show done in time, is going to be 6 days a week until September!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Oof, just 3! I’d say fearlessness, work ethic, and flow.
There’s a Mark Twain quote I heard when I was young that changed everything for me: “Do the thing you fear the most, and the death of fear is certain,” What he meant is that what keeps fear activated is the avoidance of it. If you face fear it goes away – not all at once but little by little.
Especially for artists, work ethic can be hard, but there’s an amazing book called “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron and in the beginning she talks about how important it is to JUST SHOW UP. There is this idea that we have to be inspired in order to do our work. That’s bullshit. If I waited to be inspired I’d never get my solo show painted. Writers write. Painters paint. What you do is you get dressed, you meditate, you make your coffee, you get in your studio, and DO YOUR WORK. Every. Single. Day. And then, the flow finds YOU. I come from a long line of artists and musicians, and they’ve all told me – sit your butt in your chair and DO YOUR WORK!
And so now I have to bring in the asterisk of flow, lol … because when we are doing our work and we have a schedule, the last thing we want is to become so regimented that we face burnout, ignore our bodies, or God forbid end up not having any fun in the process! Flow allows us to see what’s right in front of us and respond accordingly. To recognize an opportunity and take it when we can. Flow like water – go around a boulder if you encounter one, not through it. Be the river, not the rock.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert is a must read for any and all creatives! There are so many gems that I’ve taken from her over the years, but I’ll share this one, as it’s been super powerful for my own creative transformation.
“Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart. The rest of it will take care of itself.”
I’ve been an artist my entire life. I began singing and acting at age 6, started art classes at 7, continued all three through high school, double majored in fine art and creative writing at UCLA, and opened an art school at age 22.
HOWEVER.
It was not until after I turned 40 that I TRULY began painting what I really wanted to paint – the thing that creates a revolution in my heart. And the reason is that I was always tied to an outcome. The perfectionist in me, the people pleaser in me, the straight A student in me was always looking behind her back at her past works or out in front of her at the client to see what might create “the most successful outcome” instead of inside of her to discover the revolution in her heart.
Plenty of people loved and purchased my work before. It was fine. Great even. But this work? It sets my soul and body on fire. And THAT is what matters – maybe the ONLY thing that matters – to me now.
Contact Info:
- Website: anjale.com
- Instagram: @anjalepaints
Image Credits
Alice Kuo-Shippee
