In this episode, Jamie sits down with Anna Bryant—printmaker, studio co-owner, and former dental hygienist turned full-time artist in Asheville—to talk about rebuilding a creative life from scratch, twice: first when COVID unexpectedly opened a door into art, and again after Hurricane Helene took her studio. Anna shares: Her path from a homeschooled kid with a greeting card business ("Salutations by Anna") to a career in dental hygiene that left her craving creativity How a few linocut tools in January 2020 quietly became a full-time practice when COVID shut down dental offices—and why she's careful not to make that transition sound easier in hindsight than it actually was The role of mentorship and community in her growth: meeting printmaker Denise Markbreit at a market, joining Asheville Print Studio, learning on the presses, and eventually becoming Denise's business partner The story behind Print House—a reimagined, post-flood studio built around green printmaking practices, education, and community What it actually means to run a green print studio: water-soluble inks, no solvents, and deep care for what goes into the body and down the drain Her experimental mono screen printing process—a hybrid of painting and printmaking using inks that never dry until they touch fiber—and how it shifted her imagery from figurative bodies toward architecture, rooms, and fragile built systems How she structures her week to protect studio time: time-blocking, a dedicated admin day, and systems that corral bookkeeping, marketing, and logistics so they don't bleed into making Living with imposter syndrome as a self-taught printmaker—from the meltdown over typing "artist" in her Instagram bio to learning to trust her future self to figure things out Inspired by Tricia Hersey's Rest Is Resistance and The Nap Ministry, how reframing rest has reshaped her relationship to productivity and studio pace Finding and growing her audience in a new body of work, including restructuring her shop for one-of-one prints, shipping framed work for the first time, partnering with aligned brands like East Fork, and thinking of marketing as planting seeds rather than performing on Instagram This conversation is full of grounded, practical insight for printmakers, craft artists, and second-career creatives navigating the realities of identity, sustainability, and starting over. If you've ever struggled to call yourself an artist, to balance spreadsheets with studio time, or to rebuild after a big life disruption, Anna's story offers both language and real-world examples for building a practice that's sustainable—for your body, your community, and the environment. Learn more about Anna and Print House: https://www.annabryantart.com/, https://www.printhouseavl.com/ Connect with us: https://www.mountainbizworks.org/craft-your-commerce/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craftyourcommerce/ This podcast is produced by Parkway Studios and recorded at the Center for Craft. Original Music is by Hannah Kaminer.
