Meet Annika Koser

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Annika Koser. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Annika, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

I find a lot of optimism in knowing how temporary everything is- that really helps me keep my stress level down. Whether that’s thinking “I’ll never have this moment again so I want to enjoy it while it’s here” or “a month, a year or a few years from now this won’t be a big deal so why stress over it”. Plus I lean pretty heavy on the idea of YinYang where you can’t have the dark without the light so I know that if I’m going through something not so desirable it’s not going to last forever and that really helps me get through it.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a motorsports artist specializing in photorealistic acrylic painting. I focus mainly on sprint cars, which race at around half a dozen tracks within an hour and a half of where I live- so I’m surrounded by lots of inspiration and fellow race fans! I don’t know of too many artists that paint sprint cars, around here especially, let alone with the level of detail that I do. I spend around three weeks on each painting packing every last detail into a piece to get it as close as possible to the original photo. That challenge of getting everything just right to where you can’t tell the difference between my painting and a photograph is really exciting to me and I love seeing people’s reactions when they see the finished piece.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

For me I’d say it was patience, work ethic, and having an open mind that have really impacted my journey. As successful as I knew I wanted this to be (and know that it’s capable of being!) I knew that it certainly wasn’t going to happen overnight and that I needed to be patient and really work at it and figure out what works and what doesn’t. It’s been a lot of trial and error to see what people want and are willing to buy; it’s always frustrating when you’re excited about an idea or project and it doesn’t stick the way you hoped but being able to recognize that and move on to the next thing instead of trying to force it is really important in finding what will bring you success.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

For me this is a tie between “Let that Shit Go” by Nina Purewal and Kate Petriw, and “Lighter” by Yung Pueblo. I love a good self help book and these two are pretty similar in content and message. They both talk a lot about taking time to recognize your emotions and reactions and processing what makes you respond that way based on past experiences. When you’re aware of what’s making you respond a certain way it makes it a lot easier to check yourself and respond in a healthier way the next time certain situations come up. But they also talk a lot about not putting too much weight in other people’s opinions and reactions because at the end of the day that’s not your responsibility. You need to be happy with your own life and if others don’t approve of what you’re doing that’s okay!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://annikakoserart.com
• Instagram: @annikakoser_art
• Facebook: Annika Koser Art
• Twitter: @annikakoser_art