Meet Anjalé Perrault | Artist & Jewelry Designer

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

Hi Anjalé, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I am a huge risk taker, it’s what makes me feel alive. I love change, chance, and sliding doors. I am also someone who leans more toward believing that if I take steps where I am led rather than hesitating it’s a pot of gold that’s calling me forward. There are ideas spinning around us constantly, and sometimes it’s the noise and freneticism of daily life that clouds our perspective and keeps us from grasping them. I try to stay aligned with my life and philosophies enough to quiet my mind and listen, then keep myself brave enough to leap. Every few years you’ll find me reinventing some aspect of my life or career completely, and I believe I’m always better for it.

This personality trait has led my family to relocate from LA to Costa Rica, it’s caused me to shift from botanicals to portraiture, from teaching painting to teaching meditation. While each of these life changes has been a wild ride, it’s expanded the breadth of who I am as a human being, and I think that’s the goal of all of this. At the end of my life I hope to look back and see my life as a classroom. I don’t want to know that I got straight A’s but that I opened every book I could find, read every line and shared it with those who I love the most. To me, that’s a life well lived.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I was always destined for a career in the arts. I came from a family of creatives – musicians, artists, and performers. I took my first art class at age 7, I began teaching at 15, went to UCLA to study painting & creative writing, then opened an art school the next fall in Redondo Beach and taught hundreds of students each week for the next 16 years.

A left turn came with COVID, when I decided to close my doors and begin my career as an independent artist. While many in my life questioned this choice, I welcomed the shift. I was ready for change, and had always painted commissions which were a deeply fulfilling aspect of my career. In 2024 I had my first solo show, and at Miami Art Week in 2024 and 2025 – a huge bucket list item!

However while pushing myself to complete work for these shows I hit burnout and had to create a more sustainable pace in the aftermath. For me, the biggest challenge being an independent artist is working in a vacuum – there are no bumpers or guidelines, no one laying out work hours, reminding you to eat lunch or telling you when to go to sleep. You can paint 14 or 18 hour days and still feel as though enough is not enough.

After a year of rest, contemplation, and restructuring my priorities, the body of work that came after Miami, for me, was a revelation. Neon Nostalgia is loose, bright, alive, and a reflection of my childhood memories of a life lived in Los Angeles. Most scenes are beaches and poolside – my favorite childhood memories. All of the paintings are from vintage found photographs, most black and white, and translated into vivid neon colors. The body of work speaks to collective memory, something shared between all of us. I choose photos that feel familiar to me, and as I’ve painted this body of work I’ve been thinking about how necessary this type of connection is in a time when our culture is feeling more divided than ever.

My hope for the body of work is that when people see my paintings they will feel familiarity and connection with something there, too. The people, the place, or the vibes. Connection is the goal, for me, in it all. It was the reason I opened an art school when I was 22, and why I paint figures now at age 44. I can’t say that I’ll paint vintage photos forever – I do LOVE change – but for now, this fits just right.

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?
Ohhhh as a native Angeleno I love this question more than anything!

Venice beach for SURE. Hit Gjelina for the best food of your life, or Cafe Gratitude for laid back vegeterian vibes. Then walk Abbott Kinney because shopping! Murals! Hit Salt & Straw for ice cream. From here if you wanna checkout Santa Monica it’s right next door and there’s so much good stuff.

Hit a show at the Troubador (cheap tix, no bad standing room), eat at Gracias Madre right around the corner (again, vegan Mexican, soooo goooood), or anywhere on Melrose beforehand.

Cocktail hour at the Proper Hotel DTLA designed by the infamous Kelly Wearstler. Have one drink downstairs so you can see the gorgeous entryway ceilings painted by Abel Macias, and one drink on the rooftop sop you can see the incredible city views!

Museum Row! This is a must. LACMA, Natural History Museum, and the Science Center if you have kiddos (be sure to buy IMAX movie tickets!). This is a whole weekend in itself. My husband got us a hotel down here for XMas and we are staying a couple nights to hitup the new LACMA renovation and I’m ecstatic!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would not be where I am today without the unconditional support of my husband. Having met when we were in art school at UCLA 25 years ago, we truly grew up together. We raised one another, in a way. Decided to grow together rather than apart in the most challenging moments of life, and of course celebrated all of our wins as best friends by one another’s sides. Today we share an art studio ten minutes from our home, something I never could have imagined decades ago. This year we send our youngest son to university and start another chapter in our lives, and I am so grateful to have the person I trust the most in art, business, and life as my sounding board every day.

Website: https://anjale.com

Instagram: @anjalepaints

Image Credits
Alice Kuo-Shippee