We had the good fortune of connecting with Anna Lietaieva and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anna, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I was born in Ukraine in a family of lawyers. In my childhood I spent a lot of time at drawing and frequently took part in different creativity contests. When it came to choosing my future profession I heeded my parents’ advice and entered the law faculty in the National University of Ukraine. I had worked as a lawyer in Ukraine for 7 years until 2016 when a political war broke out between Ukraine and Russia. The situation in the country became insecure and together with my husband we took a decision to completely change our lives and move to the USA. The decision was not an easy one, as in Ukraine we possessed everything for secure life – an apartment, own business and with all that we could do nothing but abandon. For living we chose the city of Miami, I adore this city and consider it the best place in the world for living. By that moment we had just one acquaintance in Miami, no friends, very little money which presumably would support us over the first 5 months of life. On top of all that I had no command of the English language whatsoever. We realized we had to urgently undertake something. That was a year of crisis and very difficult for us too. We worked 24/7 , desperately tried to keep our business in Ukraine afloat, simultaneously I was studying English. After about a year of this stress-filled life I realized I should make a stop. I was entirely exhausted. For the first time in my life then, I decided to reconsider all my goals, desires and aspirations, and finally come to understanding of what I actually want in this life. What am I, where am I heading, what do I like, what do I love and enjoy. Then I decided that I had to change my life. In the long run I became aware of how important it is in life to occupy yourself with what you really like, what you are ready to do every day, not getting tired of work, but just getting pleasure and desire to develop still more. And I recollected that for me it is drawing. I can make drawings the whole day, every day, and I wish to do it more and more. That’s how I became an artist and the happiest human being! It might well be the case that I would never have come to this without the crisis, hardships and problems along my way. Now my paintings are being bought by private collectors from all around the world. And I am happy! I am ready to share and bring about still more beauty into this world. Looking back now I understand that the time when the war came to our country, when we had to abandon everything and take a risk – that was the best time in our life and it was a massive leap in our growth. Crisis is a good time for rebooting. You have an opportunity to observe yourself from aside and clearly understand if you are heading the right way…

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
So, I love to be more closer to the ocean, and my art in touch with nature. All my works in the abstract and expression genre are characterized by clear and bright colors, like nature itself. The uses mixed techniques and new technologies in my works. For example I models the voluminous parts of work using the appropriate materials and experimenting with a technique that has a mirror effect. My works will not leave indifferent any viewers, because through my work energy of nature speaks to you!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I really love nature in Brazil. In Brazil, there is the island of Florianopolis, it has 42 beaches. I would like to be there with my friend now. We would definitely go to the beach, ride a surf, go up to the observation deck in the mountains and in the evening we are go to the restaurant Ostradamus, where you can taste 100 different types of oysters and see the most beautiful sunset in the world.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband, Anatoliy Lyetayev, he is always chooses a path to development and that inspires me much.

Website: https://artannalee.wixsite.com/annalee
Instagram: https://instagram.com/anna_lee_artgallery?igshid=1wyhyf7k9ay0