Mapping the Artist: Ross Anthony

Ross Anthony (Photo – RossAnthonyStudios.com).

Ross Anthony is a Southern CA writer, poet, artist, musician, illustrator, and video artist.

Ross is also sensitive and helpful to his fellow humans. His inspiring enthusiasm is contagious, and shares some of it in this interview.

By Kathabela Wilson

A telescope on the artist

You are so deeply set in my mind as “Ross Anthony, Author,” was it always this way or how did it begin?

I was stumped when my third grade teacher assigned the penning of an original poem for homework, so I did the only sensible thing, I went outside and played Nerf football. I didn’t do too well on that assignment, but I did make an amazing touchdown catch! Somewhere around twice my life later, a high school teacher required us to not only purchase a diary (she called it a journal so we wouldn’t be mortified), but to write in it everyday. Everyday! What nerve! There were lots of things I liked to do everyday, but writing wasn’t one of them. Fortunately, she allowed us to write whatever we wanted, and even promised she wouldn’t judge. Well, I trusted that statement, because my first entry was: “I hate this stupid journal. And I certainly don’t like writing in it!” But that teacher was very clever, because I wrote in that journal everyday even after the class ended. A decade later, journals, full from cover to cover with my bad handwriting, littered my closet.

Pulse of the poet

Where did you go from there?

When I was a young man and world ignorant, save for my locale (and even of that my knowledge was questionable), I left all that I knew and moved to Arizona. That’s where I stumbled into an earthy independent bookstore. I peeked into a small backroom that exited into a tree-filled courtyard. “The poetry reading isn’t till after the store closes,” said the clerk with a smile. Later. seven people, myself and the clerk included, sat in a circle on the floor and one by one read our poetry. I was excused for coming empty-handed, but the following week I came with a poem from my journals. That weekly poetry group became a creative/emotional anchor for me in a place where I’d come to live on my own. As the years went by, the group continuously expanded from our seven until the backroom couldn’t contain us. It flooded into the main floor, it worked its way up the staircase, and filled the overlooking balcony. The feedback, the interaction, and the all-out poetry immersion of those years continues to color my writing and give rhythm to my prose all these years later.

A compass on the poet

I know you’ve sold and produced thousands of your books, all on your own, how did it happen?

For roughly a decade, I completed a book a year. Fiction, non-fiction, even kid’s books, I wrote, illustrated, independently published, bound by hand, marketed, and then traveling and sleeping in a 1988 van named Rocinante (just kidding, I never named the van), I signed thousands of books at hundreds of book stores and cafes across the country. What a privilege! What an honor! What great timing! As the world itself transitioned to digital writing and reading, it warms my heart to have participated in humanity’s perhaps-last embrace of the bound book. Signing a physical book and then putting it into the hands of an eager reader is a beautiful life experience! That said, those years were hard! I worked 60-80 hour weeks and barely made enough to survive. Anyway, each year I’d smile and say, “I made enough to write the next book!” Eventually, of course, I burned out. The digital world had made independent publishing so widespread that book stores were overrun by new writers; and well, the book stores burnt out, too, and then they struggled to survive the rushing current of the internet Amazon. So, I went back to an earlier love, and now focus my creative juices on Video Production. As a freelancer shooter/editor, I get to work with so many fascinating people on a wide range of projects from music videos [Editor’s note: View one below co-starring Kathabela and her poetry friends], to business promos, to live performances, to interviews, to YouTube videos. The shooting is always fun, and what I learned rewriting my literary works informs how I edit my videos.

A microscope on the poet

I know you named you motorcycle “Chili” and that you do something special for others–to celebrate your adventures riding your red “chili”pepper! What was that?

How to explain Chili for Homeless? Hmmm. Well, I once road a dirt bike named Chili from Chicago to California giving away books and writing-related presentations as part of a charity event sponsored by my readers and others. Chili and I enjoyed that so much, we came up with another way readers could sponsor random acts of kindness. BTW, Chili and I have a long history together — we once traversed the USA coast to coast on America’s back roads. I chronicled that adventure in “Zen Repair and the Art of Riding Chili.” So, once a year, each time a reader purchases a copy of that book, I cook up a bowl of chili for a homeless person in LA — then go out and deliver the chili on Chili. I fear I’ve explained this poorly, encourage your readers to have a look at www.Chili4Homeless.com, there they’ll find pictures, stories, and even a video. If they still have questions – have them email me. And thanks for asking. Btw, it’s easy to get too busy and forget the power of random acts of kindness, so if your readers remember nothing else from this article, I certainly encourage them (and you and I) to remember to be randomly kind at least once before today becomes tomorrow!

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