THE ARTIST

Since I was a little child, my whole world was Art.

 

At the age of five, I painted the walls of my house with just a pencil, that I had secretly taken from my grandmother's house. I never understood why my mother was so socked when she returned home and saw my fairy-tale work on the walls!

But I remember that shortly afterwards, I found myself in a studio of a well-known painter, who wanted immediately, by seeing my various designs, to introduce me to the secrets of painting. So at the age of 8, I started private lessons with the Academic Painter, Dimitris Kantopoulos, studying all the courses of the School of Fine Arts.

Still in my eyes, I have myself standing in front of a huge easel trying to learn all the painting techniques and next to me all young students of the School of Fine Arts, who were looking curiously at me and wondering what this little girl was doing among them!

I was feeling so enchanted by this new world! It was a new world full of colors and textures that I was learning quickly and easily. I realised from the first moment that my life was Art!   I remember my teacher saying to me “…my little girl, your journey in the world of arts will surely be great, and if some people do not like all your paintings, they will definitely talk about your colors, as this is your power and your magic”.

The allergy I had to the oil paints and turpentine did not help me to continue my studies at the School of Fine Arts. But as I couldn’t live without Art, my steps guided me in a different path, following the world of Fashion.

 

Despite everyones’ expectations who wanted me to follow Business Administration studies, I joined Fashion Design Courses at Veloudakis Fashion School in Athens.

At this point, my life was again full of Art. All the designs, the textiles, the accessories, the colors and the history of fashion... were all in my nature.

Every next day was a source of life and knowledge, based on hard work, unique projects and nights full of pioneering ideas, …everywhere and everything was full of light!

 

But I wanted more, so as I joined Jewelry Design courses at the YWCA School of Arts in Athens. During my studies, I was so lucky that I went in Paris, being in fashion shows by famous designers and also visiting Montmartre, a place where I started realizing how important was Art for me.

After my graduation, I had a big dilemma regarding my next steps in the world of Fashion. Would it be England, France or Italy... The choice was up to me and since I was speaking all three languages fluently, the criteria should be something different. I started asking myself which culture was matching my temper more and found that the winner was Italy.

A country that still captivates me in every respect, a country with so much history in Art, full of mysterious cold grey colors.

 

Thus, in Milan I joined the Instituto Artistico dell 'Abbigliamento Marangoni to continue my education. There I evolved my artistic skills but also my personality.

I graduated with the Advanced Diploma level in fashion, with a Master Degree in Jewelry Design & Accessories and also attended Advanced Level Courses in Interior Design.

 

A few days later I received an amazing proposal from the principal of the Institute, to start my career in Versace Fashion House. Too many thoughts but for personal reasons I wanted to return back to Greece.

Packing all my things along with my diplomas and the necessary recommendation letters, I returned in Athens with the sole prospect of working as a designer in Haute Couture, otherwise I had to chase my dreams back in Milan. There was no compromise on my career, and like a real lioness I was always aiming high.

 

Soon after returning in Athens I found myself at the atelier of one of the greatest names of Greek Fashion, of Haris Hourmouzis. With my portfolio at hand, I went at his atelier in Lycabettus for an interview in March 1994. During our interview, my eyes were spinning around the room with incredible speed and I was steering everything that was happening. All the team in the atelier was working hard to do the final rehearsal before the upcoming Fall/Winter Fashion show. As Harris told me later on, he had seen into my eyes himself and recognised my thirst for Fashion.

 "Do you have a really strong stomach?" he asked me with a smile. "yes, I have ..." was my immediate answer, while I was still thinking about his question.

 "We are totally the same" he replied to me and that was the beginning for a magical journey at the backstage and in front of the fashion lights.

A true school, with good and bad moments that made me better and stronger.

 

Harris was and will be one of the most important persons in my life. He is my mentor.

At Harris & Aggelos Fashion House I lived my most creative years, I travelled many times for the needs of our fashion shows and as a designer I reached the top. I was so fortunate to get introduced to many remarkable people and artists through my work.

One of these persons was Harris's eminent friend, the famous sculptor-painter Nikos Giorgos Papoutsidis who proposed me to present his incredible art works as small stories at his upcoming exhibition in Kefalari, Kifissia in 1998. It was a special moment and I won another important person in my life.

 

Along with Fashion, there were many important moments in my career. I collaborated with the Academic Artist Panagiotis Sotiriadis from 1999 to 2000, with frescoes, furniture processing and painting.

 

I also participated in the Volkswagen “Beetle Art”  Open Contest by submitting two projects: Millennium and Beetle 2000. The exhibition was held in Glyfada Golf Club in Athens on July 1999 and I was awarded praise for my art project Millennium.

 

As the world of Fashion left no room for a family or at least what I had in my mind as family, I decided in 2000 to leave this magical world of fashion for the sake of my personal happiness.

But art was always present in my life.

 

In 2001 I created the company Annita Platis Collections, with collectible decoration items from Florence and Venice including my own works of art. In parallel I managed some key projects as an Interior Décoratrice for well-known houses and professional spaces.

 

In 2007, my new artistic idea created the company All My Life. As a Wedding & Event Planner, I was designing handmade invitations, bonbonnières and decoration, having the end to end responsibility of the events.

 

By the end of 2010, after some events that made me lose my focus, I decided to pause for a while and withdrawn to myself in order to redefine my life. Art was put into my drawer, for a while, until I aggressively prepared myself for new dreams and new artistic routes.

 

In 2016 the words of a very beloved person woke me up from the lethargy and the denial I had. "…You cannot deny your nature. You are born for art. You are Art. Do not change at all. Live again in your own magic world. " He was right… The next day found me full of inspiration and new ideas. I started keeping notes and drawing basic sketches so I could remember the overall concept.

 

The works for my own painting exhibition had already begun, getting flesh and bone. I was working nearly for two years to create my first collection that was consisting of 18 paintings on canvas, with acrylic, charcoal, aging techniques and digital media. A collection inspired by dreams, emotions and moments of life. The name was, "Faces & Characters".

 

In April 2018, my entire collection was sold to a businessman from Italy, Portofino, before even being presented in any gallery in Greece. My paintings are decorating boutique hotels and villas at Portofino.

 

At the same time, I was completing my first collection, my second one was born. It is a 10 paintings project worked on black canvas, with aging technique, acrylics, special craftsmanship markers and some with decorative materials. The name of my second collection is "My Soul Kingdom". A totally different journey, in a unique kingdom.

 

Both of my collections are presented on my website, accompanied by my own poems. Each painting represents a different story. Every poem highlights the source of inspiration and the moments of my inner voyage.

 

In the middle of 2019, a new collection called "Eternal Lover" was born.

Suddenly, I had the idea to prepare an image on my computer in order to have more liberty in the development process. As a painter, a fashion designer and a stylist, this was really very excited. A symphony of graphics, female portraits, collages and figurative compositions. I decided to show my creativity through Surrealism, because this style provides me more freedom to convey my feelings and thoughts through the canvas. This is a collection more surreal, but very seductive. Full of colors, femininity and elements of nature.

This is also a collection accompanied by my own poems and thoughts.

 

In the year 2020, there was another inspiration, through which a painting and a fairy tale were born.

From the time I was a little girl, I loved reading books and especially fairy tales. I began to make books from my own stories and drew pictures to illustrate them. «The princess and the Red Goldfish» is my first fairytale. In "Fairytales & Paintings" category, you will see another point of Art.

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At the end of 2020, I launched a new Art series entitled "Camouflage". The collection consists of 10 paintings.

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In 2022 a collection entitled "Words" was completed, which is consisted of 7 artworks.

 

 

Many thanks to the composer Dimitris Athanasiou for his music album cover.

 

I am pleased to invite you to my own world of Art. A magical world that travels the mind and thought. Through my own point of view, you will wander in different paths of Art. With my brushes and my writing, I will lead you to my own kingdom, to my own colorful universe.