uptown annie
minimalist minnesotan
Originating in the Uptown neighborhood of Minnesota, Annika Warfield (Annie!) has mastered clean, sophisticated line drawings meant for the blank space on your wall.
In December of 2019, Annie was searching for a new hobby.
“I tried everything,” she recalls. Annie was going through a hard time and was intent to keep herself busy. “Guitar playing, I bought roller blades, sketching paper and a pen.” Although she never considered herself skilled at drawing, her mother was a jewelry maker and artistically talented. Annie has always possessed that same creative energy.
Drawing was the new past time that stuck for Annie. She remembers making more line drawings than she knew what to do with, hanging them up around her apartment and even in her closet to keep her sketches from accumulating on her desk. As her friends and fellow college students shuffled in and out of her apartment, their praise was the encouragement she needed to take her skills to the next level and start a business.
nature is her muse
Inspiration for Annie’s prints stem from-
The lakes of Minnesota, where her family has a cabin
The mountains of Montana (where her brother lives)
The plants in Annie’s Savage apartment (where she since has relocated from Uptown)
No, she is not considering a name change to Savage Annie, Annika discloses.
Annie’s first small batch creations were hand drawn on canvas. She began selling on Facebook Marketplaces throughout the country, shipping her drawings to interested buyers nationwide.
She since has pivoted to digital production, and uses her iPad to hand trace her drawings with her fingers. She prints on semi gloss paper to provide her customers with a long lasting and versatile product for framing, gifting or whatever else they choose.
merging two passions
Since quitting her marketing job in June to pursue Uptown Annie full time, Annie returned to school to study interior design, a lifelong interest of hers.
“I love seeing my drawings in people’s homes,” she gushes. Eventually she dreams of integrating her line drawings into an interior design business.
strong roots
Her bestselling “root for each other” print originated during the pandemic and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. To her surprise, someone asked if she would transfer the design to a sweatshirt. This is just one way that Annie’s (pictured on the right) customers influence her creative process and inspire her to get out of her comfort zone.
“A lot of what I make is inspired by my own interests, but it’s also inspired by the people in my life,” Annie explains. “I try to offer something for everyone. My grandma asked me to pick out a print for her the other day that she would like. I want to offer something for all of the grandma’s out there.”
Annie dreams post lockdown of connecting with her customers in person at markets, and meeting other artists. “I want my customers to know I’m an actual human,” she jokes.
Want more Uptown Annie? Check out Annika on instagram and purchase prints directly from her shop, and stay tuned for an exclusive collaboration with Novel brands!