August 11, 2020

Meet Fanny Emmanuel

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Fanny Emmanuel.

Fanny, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I moved to the U.S. from Paris at three years old. My parents had big dreams and being a person of color in the early ’90s made it nearly impossible for them to progress. They sold everything we had and took a leap of faith to South Florida. Within one year of living in Florida, my parents opened a French restaurant on Fort Lauderdale Beach. Every summer, my parents would be so busy with the business. They rarely trusted people to look after my sister and me so we would spend the entire day behind the bar from 10 am to 10 pm. My mom purchased us a CD player and a bunch of arts and crafts to distract us while they would work. I would always get in trouble for singing too loud or dancing behind the bar. My mom would always say, “Fanny les gents te regarded,” which means people are watching you. What she didn’t understand is that it made me want to sing even louder! Music and art were what got me through those summers behind the bar.

By the time I got to middle school, I was finally able to join extracurricular activities. My art teacher Ms. Newton opened a whole new world for me. I remember I had a hard time drawing people of color and she would always say, “don’t be afraid to use the darker colors.” She taught me tricks about lighting and shadows that I still use to this day. Every day before we got to drawing or painting a project, Ms. Newton would make us write a journal entry and she would pick certain students to read theirs out loud. I loved being different from everyone else so I would purposely go above and beyond with my writing. I would make my stories rhyme, not realizing that I was writing poetry. Ms. Newton taught me that art was more than just painting or drawing but self-expression. I wrote and published my first book in that class at only 13 years old. In high school, I decided to join the choir. I still loved art, but singing was a way for me to express myself out loud.

Those experiences definitely molded me into who I am today. I recently started an art and illustration company, which is something that I would have never imagined myself doing. It started with a few commission pieces I did for my friends. I received an overwhelming amount of support to the point that I had to close my commissions in order to complete all of my pending requests. This eventually leads me to start my website fannyariel.com in order to allow people to purchase my art without having to wait for my commissions to be open.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has been smooth enough for me to know that this was meant to be, and tough enough for me to understand that life is a teaching experience. After high school, I didn’t really focus too much on my talents. I was learning how to overcome social anxiety. There was a pivotal point in my life where I realized I had lost myself. That same girl who would proudly sing and dance behind the bar had disappeared. Finding myself again was one of my toughest struggles but I had a really great support system along the way.

For a while, I also struggled with feeling like I had to choose between passions. Society has a way of placing people in categories and I wanted to make sure I never fit into any of them. Balancing it all while being a full-time student isn’t easy but I truly believe when something is meant for you, it will come to you.

We’d love to hear more about your art.
Art by Fanny Ariel is an art and digital illustrating company. I specialize in illustrating people of color from all different types of cultures and backgrounds. I love choosing very bright and vibrant colors because that is how I like to view myself and the world around me. I offer original Acrylic paintings, digital art prints, and vinyl stickers. I don’t have a specific art style because I don’t ever want to limit myself. My art is about growth and that is why I am constantly trying new things.

As a company, one project that I am most proud of is my recent partnership with writer and filmmaker, Honey Soul in creating Free Brown Therapy. We decided to bring our gifts together to create children’s books and therapeutic resources for brown communities. I believe that the youth is the seed to a better future so incorporating my art and creative ideas is a way for me to feel like I am a part of something bigger than myself.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Throughout both my life and business, I have been extremely lucky. I consider being “lucky” as being blessed though, because I don’t believe anything happens at random. All of the trials and “bad luck” that I’ve been through have only driven me to grow into who I am today so in actuality, life has just been full of blessings.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Louis Lens Photography

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