About the artist
Anna Lazari is a self-taught painter and a practicing pharmacist with an MSc degree, primarily dedicated to portraiture. She works across several media, including dry pastels, water-soluble oils, wax-cored colored pencils, watercolor pans and acrylic wall emulsions.
In 2026 she was accepted into both the Master of Fine Arts program at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and the Fine Art MA at Falmouth University, and she is currently enrolled at the London Art College. She has taken part in group exhibitions and was published in the Culturale Lab volume 100 Artists of Europe 2026.
Artist interview
Anna Lazari is a pharmacist on the island of Kefalonia and a self-taught portraitist who works above all in dry pastel. She talks about blending colour with her fingers, and about the faces that stop her.
How would you introduce yourself in one phrase: who you are and what you create?
I am an MSc pharmacist working in a community pharmacy and a self-taught artist focusing mainly on portraiture.
What is special about your technique? Why this medium?
Over time, I have worked with various media, including watercolor pans, dry pastels, water-soluble oil colors, wax-cored colored pencils, graphite, charcoal, and acrylic wall emulsions. However, the medium I love most is dry pastels; they offer the freedom to work from dark to light shades or vice versa, and you can blend the colors directly with your fingers without needing any tools.
What inspires the subjects you choose, and where do your ideas usually begin?
My inspiration comes from any image, picture, or face that moves me. I might be inspired by recent sociopolitical events and try to depict something reflecting them, or I might capture something humble from my everyday life, like a cat or a flower that made my day.
If someone were searching for your work on Google, what keywords do you think they would type?
I don’t really like labels, so I struggle to find the right keywords for search engines. I would simply identify as a self-taught artist who focuses especially in portraiture.
Where can people find your work?
Instagram: @anna__lazari