From the archives: Ana Zanic on watercolour flow

Croatian-born, Chicago-based artist Ana Zanic embraces watercolour as a spontaneous, layered practice built from washes, drawn marks and a loose, improvisational hand. Her series, including Migration, made around her US citizenship, explore movement, memory and identity. In this conversation, Ana talks about accidental burn marks discovered with her son, working at scale, and how becoming a mother unexpectedly led her into ceramics

Show Notes

Key takeaways from this episode:

• Spontaneity and structure can coexist. Ana describes her mark-making as both controlled and unpredictable, showing that a loose, improvisational hand still benefits from an underlying sense of composition.

• Accidents are worth following. A burn mark her son made with a magnifying glass became a signature technique in her Migration series, a reminder to stay open to happy surprises in the studio.

• Big life transitions can become bodies of work. Ana's Migration series grew directly out of the long process of becoming a US citizen, turning questions of identity and belonging into a visual language.

• A new outlet can carry you through a hard season. When early motherhood left her feeling she had "no outlet", Ana turned to ceramics, a slower, grounding practice completely separate from her painting.

• Your own language shapes how you create. Ana still thinks in Croatian before translating into English, a reminder that the language we think in can quietly shape the feelings we put into our work.

During the live interview, we shared some images of Ana ’s artwork. Since you’re listening to the podcast version, we’ve made these images available for you below. 

Join the conversation

What inspired you this episode? Share your biggest insight or favourite moment on social media, and tag @TakeTwoArtCourses. 

Explore the images from this episode: