Meet Annahid Khorrami
Annahid is an internationally recognized fine artist whose work sits at the intersection of faith, beauty, and human testimony. Born in Iran, she completed her early education there before moving to Germany at the age of sixteen, where she spent three formative years before making her home in the United States.
America was not a destination she chose. It was where life brought her. And like so many chapters of her story, what began as something beyond her control became the soil where something extraordinary grew.
Her artistic education began in Iran, where she was recognized as a gifted young artist. After coming to America in her twenties, she trained as a cosmetologist and built a successful career serving others for decades. But the desire to create never left her.
It began with a photograph.
Looking at a picture one day, Annahid saw something that stopped her completely. Not the image itself, but the emotion trapped inside it. The feeling behind the eyes. The unspoken moment. The kind of thing a camera catches by accident but cannot fully hold.
She knew then that she needed to capture it. Not with a lens, but with paint.
She walked into an art store not knowing what she was looking for. The store owner introduced her to oil paint. She bought everything he suggested.
From that moment, a burning desire took over. Not a hobby. Not a pastime. A calling so deep she felt she could not live without it. She had found her language.
She began to paint feelings. Moments. Deep thoughts. The kind of scenes that change people forever, that shift history, that carry the weight of something eternal.
At 27 years old, Annahid picked up a brush for the first time since childhood. She sought formal painting instruction and continued to grow as an artist throughout her life. At 50 she returned to the classroom again, studying graphic communication and mastering digital arts, proving that a true artist never stops learning.
It was this relentless, self driven pursuit of her craft, fueled by a desire so deep she felt she could not live without it, that truly shaped her unique and powerful voice.
In 2018 she made the courageous decision to leave her career behind entirely and dedicate herself fully to her art. It was a leap of faith in every sense of the word.
Her discovery of the stories of women in the Bible became the defining inspiration of her artistic life. She saw in these ancient women something deeply personal, women who were overlooked, afraid, and desperate, yet seen and transformed by the divine. She began to paint them.
Her collection She Was Seen was born.
Annahid has been recognized by the Luxembourg Art Prize, awarded by the Pinacothèque, four consecutive years, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Only the most deserving artists receive this distinction. Her original works have been acquired by private collectors and have moved audiences around the world.
She lives and paints in Tucson, Arizona.
Why I Paint
"I was born into a world where leaving my faith meant death. I left anyway. These paintings are what I found on the other side."
I am Annahid Khorrami. I have been painting since I was 27 years old and I have lived more than most people could imagine. My journey brought me across continents, through darkness, and finally to a canvas and a calling I never expected.
These paintings are the fruit of that journey.
There is no shortage of paintings of Jesus, of Mary, of the women of the Bible. I came to these stories late. As an outsider. And maybe that is exactly why I see them differently.
But I needed my own view.
Not the traditional. Not the expected. I wanted to step inside those moments, the ones that stopped time, the ones that changed history, and feel them from the inside out.
I paint emotions. Not scenes. Not figures. Emotions.
The desperation of a woman who has tried everything and has nothing left but to reach. The courage of a queen who walks into a throne room knowing she could die. The grief of a mother standing at a cross. The joy of one who thought she had lost everything and found it again.
I know these emotions because I have lived them. Each one in my own way, in my own story.
If you want to know more about where these paintings come from, I share it all in my journal. The real story behind the brush.
