Hi, I’m Anne Butera

Welcome to my little corner of the internet. So glad to have you here.

I’m an artist, teacher, blogger and gardener, but I used to believe I couldn’t draw and was definitely NOT an artist.

Eventually I stopped listening to the negative voice in my head and in 2010 I began teaching myself how to paint.

Over the years I’ve developed a passion for sharing what I’ve learned on my creative journey and encouraging you on yours.

When I was a child, our little suburban backyard sprawled in my imagination like a hundred-acre wood or secret garden, the most ordinary bits of nature glimmered like magic and fed my imagination.

In kindergarten I got in trouble for telling stories about my pet giraffe and the giant strawberry in my backyard, but what I really noticed in our garden was no less magical.

The thrill of the first flower unfurling in spring.

The bliss of a sun-warm tomato eaten straight from the vine.

The perfection of a handful of acorns pocketed on a walk.

I look back on my kindergarten self with such affection. Her imagination, her wonder, her fearless creativity.

As I grew up I abandoned art-making and lost some of my wonder. I hit my thirties and I knew something was missing from my life.

One of the first steps I took was starting a blog.

Yearning to regain my childlike belief in wonder, I named it My Giant Strawberry.

My path has meandered.

There have been detours and delays, setbacks and failures.

I didn’t have a clear idea of where I was headed when I set out on my journey, yet each step was a deliberate choice to look for joy, to see light in the darkness, to embrace creativity.

When I chose My Giant Strawberry for the name of that long-ago abandoned blog, I had no idea where my childhood self would lead me.

As I taught myself how to make art, I stumbled and backtracked and failed and started over.

I found sanctuary in my garden.

I fell in love with watercolor.

And I developed a passion for sharing what I’d learned and encouraging others.

And so today I invite you to join me.

In regaining your sense of wonder.

In reclaiming your creativity.

In paying attention and noticing even the tiniest glimmers of beauty and joy.

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