LIFESTYLES
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efore listening to artist Annie
Margarita tell her story, consider
buckling your seatbelt.
Margarita’s life has been a rolling
adventure, a journey that has blurred the
borders of artistic genres and has taken her
on some decidedly unartistic side trips.
The tale of how the painter and
leatherworker landed in Pendleton takes
some time to tell, so she settled onto a couch
Tuesday in the shop’s “art viewing and wine
tasting room,” got comfortable and started at
the beginning.
“I was born an artist,” she said.
“There was no getting around it.”
She remembers doing pen and
ink drawings as a girl, learning
how to shade mountains in the
third grade. Her mother-in-law
taught her acrylic painting after
Margarita married at age 18.
She didn’t consider her art an
avocation.
“Everyone said artists starve,”
she recalled.
So, she studied anthropology,
Japanese and design in college.
After divorcing at age 23,
wanting a new direction, she
joined the Marines as a diesel
mechanic.
“I tested at 98.5 percent in a
mechanical aptitude test,” she
said. “It was 400 men and me in
mechanics school.”
She repaired Hummers
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Later, she trained in imagery
intelligence and served in a
photo reconnaissance unit doing
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Marine years, her artistic abilities
simmered on a back burner, but
occasionally bubbled up.
“People found out I was an
artist,” she said. “Everyone
wanted t-shirts for their
companies. I designed guys’
tattoos. I painted murals.”
After two enlistments with the
Marines, Margarita said enough
was enough.
“When I got out in 1993, I
decided I was an artist,” she said.
She took an unorthodox path.
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she repaired and airbrushed
huge mechanical dinosaurs at
SeaWorld’s Monster Marsh and
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World’s Animal Kingdom,
the Journey to Atlantis ride at
SeaWorld and the Islands of
Adventure at Universal Studios.
She worked as lead artist at the
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Portugal.
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about 50 resident artists who do
live painting during dinner. Artists
received meals and exposure in
lieu of pay.
“I painted for food,” she said
with a grin.
That experience probably
helped her in 2005 when she
competed in the international
Trompe L’oeil competition in
Lodi, Italy. Each of the 72 artists
would have 25 hours to paint a
scene involving water. Margarita
painted two raccoons tipping over
a jar of water containing a frog.
She took fourth place.
The artist started her own
company in 1999 and did interior
design, painted murals and did
plaster work at museums, private
homes and businesses.
Eventually, she bought a
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needed a case for one of her
creations, she built one out of
leather. That evolved into a line
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accessories.
In 2013, she took a break,
selling her sports car, buying a
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Last November, Margarita arrived
in Pendleton to take a class
from Utah saddle maker Gordon
Andrus at the Pendleton Leather
Show. Afterwards, she explored
Main Street.
“I had breakfast at the
Rainbow,” she said. “I met Red
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me to (saddle maker) Monte
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Artist rides
life’s waves
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By KATHY ANEY • East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Artist Annie Margarita paints a salmon on a piece of leather that will be made into a fishing pole case Wednesday at her shop in Pendleton.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Artist Martha Francis places a handbag in a display case while
preparing Annie Margarita Maker Gallery for its grand opening last
week in Pendleton.
Leather artist Annie Mar-
garita sews an end piece
onto a leather fishing
pole case Wednesday at
her shop in Pendleton.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
“They say if
you do what
you love, it’s
not work. It’s
true. Every
single day is
a gift. I love
my life.”
— Annie Margarita
Beckman.”
The two hit it off. Beckman
had room in his shop for
Margarita, so she stuck around
a while, doing leather work. She
opened her own shop, the Annie
Margarita Maker Gallery, at 141
S. Main Street.
“I decided to stay,” she said. “I
fell in love with Pendleton. The
people in Pendleton are fabulous.”
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Margarita at her bench, working
on leather pieces, her collection
of punches, knives, bevel tools
and awls within close reach,
country, Southern rock, Phantom
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Her Australian shepherd, Kit,
stays close. Her style is her own.
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acrylic paint onto leather.
“I don’t do traditional,” she
said. “I love traditional, but I’m
personally more into having a
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the world who does my style.”
The shop is open Thursday
through Saturday, or by special
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Staff photo by E.J. Harris
More than one hundred leather working tools sit on the work
bench at Annie Margarita’s shop in Pendleton.
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sheathes and game slings) and
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paintings by Margarita and others.
The shop will also feature a line
of leather work by Margarita’s
roommate, Martha Francis.
Francis said Margarita amazes
her.
“She’s got great energy,”
Francis said. “She’s got clear
goals. She knows exactly what
she wants and attacks it to make it
happen.”
Saddle maker Monte Beckman
expects success from Margarita.
“She does nice work,” he said.
“I’m really glad she decided to
stay around.”
Life is sweet these days for
Margarita. The artist starts her
mornings by strolling on the River
Walk with Kit and then heads for
the shop.
“They say if you do what you
love, it’s not work,” she said. “It’s
true. Every single day is a gift. I
love my life.”
For a look at some of
Margarita’s work, go to
anniemargarita.com or
FlyGirlLeather.com.
———
Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@
eastoregonian.com or call
541-966-0810.