March 2,2021

Why would you Change your Name?

Committing to Becoming all that I am. From Annies Workroom to Anne Harris

When I committed to becoming an artist, the truth was it scared me I had no idea what I was going to ‘make’ and why this deep-rooted desire wouldn’t go away. The greatest success that I had, had in my ‘achievement’ file inside my head the blueprint that I knew worked or that I ‘should’ aspire to was that of a brand. To create a business, which is how I envisioned this commitment to play out I needed a Brand!

The Brand needed a name. Annie was a name from my childhood, when I was little everything was flowing and I loved making and creating, there were no boundaries, or pressure to produce saleable items, I didn’t even know marketing was a thing. The word Workroom had so many ideals wrapped up in it, during the one year I did in visual arts at Uni, I was obsessed by the Arts & Crafts movement, the idea that during the industrial rampage that was taking over the world, people would be honouring the handmade and beauty within objects, and within a workroom a myriad of tasks and processes could take place. I loved working with wood, textiles, fibre, design and creating objects. Annies Workroom was born, it was during school holidays late at night, I spent hours learning how to populate a website, how to use Fiverr to get a logo created, how to use facebook and instagram. It was on a budget and all DIY.

Another reason I needed a brand, was the fact I wasn’t ready to be seen, I needed a container to hold me and shield me, so I felt safe to grow, explore and play. To find a voice, to begin this commitment to being a creative. It took years, first to work out how to get the time to make, and what was in reality possible to make, as a mum of small children. As my children grew time did appear, and my confidence grew and my voice got stronger, the place I found the most inspiration and connection was using the plants as the Segway, one of my biggest struggles was finding a way of creating without any misappropriation, and how to honour my relationship with the methodology of Australian indigenous art and craft.

Workroom began in 2013 and now 8 years later nearly to the day, I write this blog to share my story of becoming whole. I need to be seen for who I am, and known as Anne Harris, I am deeply grateful for the space and container that the Workroom held for me, and as I move into Perimenopause the veil is lifting and (oestrogen levels drop) and the bullshit metre is switched on to full alert. All the hormones that hold a women in a place of service to be able to mother selflessly and to serve her family begin to dissipate. For me this has meant a time of reflecting and stepping into owning myself again, so part of that is moving to this new website with the name of Anne Harris, this is me, I am all that I am.