The idea for the series “Anthem Stories” came about a bit spontaneously as we started gathering footage for our upcoming branding film for the company. We’ve discussed wanting to highlight various stories people may tell in one video, as that is what we do everyday as a company. We chose to feature Jenn both because we are close with her and because her medium of storytelling (painting) is extremely visual and impressive.
While we initially intended to use her footage just for the future branding film, we decided to go a bit further and create a video around just her and her art-form. When looking at the different collections of her art pieces around her apartment (that had fantastic natural lighting, much to our delight), what distinguishes her paintings from the pieces her roommates have hanging is the amount of color and the heavily abstract nature, which we found especially intriguing.
After we filmed certain shots we had planned for the Anthem branding film, we stuck around a good bit longer and captured her working on a couple of different pieces. When she was done, we mic’d her up and asked her some questions about the value she finds in her type of art-form. What I love about her method, and how the video captures it, is that it is clear that painting is a calm form of catharsis for her. A lot of the times artists, especially painters, can be known as tortured figures desperately searching for inspiration on their next piece that might reflect a heavier part of themselves or society.
For Jenn, she merely uses this as a healthy form of escapism, much like reading a book or watching a television show. There is no real sense of intensity or self-importance at play here, and the soothing way in which she approaches her work shows that sometimes, the most engaging part about art is not its poignance, but its accessibility.