Anna James Thorley

Click here for a link to a PDF of samples of some of my recent work--corporate communications, social media, copy writing, graphic design, and email newsletters.

A whole family effort over the last few months.

For Mother's Day this year, we did tintype portraits with Brett Briggs of Bretterick Studio + Lab. As a photography lover, it was so special to see this old technology at work and it really was an experience. (The lens he used is over 175 years old!) Brett made it just about as hands on as it could be and involved all of us as we got to watch our tin plates develop.

Bryce Canyon, April 2025.

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Last October, I finally got to visit the Office of Collecting and Design in Las Vegas. It was a feast for the eyes and even more for the often forbidden tactile element--when was the last time you got to touch whatever you wanted at a museum?!

I did the flat lay experience and pulled items from throughout to make my own piece of art. It was incredibly fun and a million percent spoke to the collector in me that especially loves mini things. Wait, your pandemic hobby wasn't decorating a dollhouse? You were making bread?!

The experience was more challenging than I thought it would be--what items do I want to use and how should I arrange it all--and the time really flew by. I ended up approaching it with a very sentimental lens with a lot of nods to my kids and family and connections to things that younger Anna would have loved as well. (Peep the three sets of primary colors--something I've always loved since I was a kid and the colors I've used to represent my triplets since they were babies.)

LIVE FROM NEW YORK...IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!

This last weekend was the big celebration of 50 years of Saturday Night Live!

As a long time fan of the show, I devoured all the SNL offerings on peacock and especially enjoyed the SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night docuseries and the Ladies & Gentlemen...50 Years of SNL Music program.

While I wax on, (and I'm fully aware that I'm just repeating what so many have already said), there is no doubt that Saturday Night Live is a mover and shaker. It's a reflection of American culture and I love that it is like a time capsule of the decades. I have loved comedy since I was a kid and as I've grown up and spent some time in live TV in college and work, I've come to really appreciate the adrenaline and magic (with an underpinning of chaos and panic) that comes from a live broadcast.

There have been lot of fun lists, rankings, and articles analyzing the 50 year catalog and with so many individual shows and sketches, I've loved seeing what things become legendary and what makes it into the broader zeitgeist across the decades. Now, we all know the exact prescription for a fever.

I've got my favorites about SNL, too, of course.

One thing I have consistently loved is the bumper photos of the hosts and musical guests. These are the graphics that are done on the stingers coming back into the show from commercial break--done by Edie Baskin from the show's start and then moving to the incredible Mary Ellen Matthews when she took over in 1999. Mary is putting out a book this year all about the SNL bumpers called "The Art of the SNL Portrait" and I cannot wait to pick it up.

As a young freshmen in college, I got a new flash for my Nikon and one of the first things I did was create my own bumper photos, SNL style.

I couldn't end this post without sharing some of my favorite sketches of the years. And like so many others, I loved the cast I grew up with so it's a little skewed to 2005 and beyond.

Some of my fav sketches:

Maya's National Anthem

Back Home Ballers

One of my favorite hosts ever, Melissa McCarthy as Arlene

Wells for Boys

Kaitlyn Gets Her Ears Pierced

Roundball Rock, a Tim Robinson triumph!

Weekend Update: Rebecca Larue the Flirting Expert

Cold Commercial with Kristen and Will, two of the all time greats.

Baby Shower (this is a documentary, not a sketch!)

Hello Kitty

Will Forte's Spelling Bee, one of my fav cast members

The best fragrance commercial, I'm No Angel

Brothers featuring my favorite duo Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney

Bedroom with Melissa Villaseñor's legendary dirty talk

Papyrus and Papyrus 2

Traffic Altercation with the fabulous Quinta Brunson

The day finally came!

After 40 years of civilian service for the US Air Force, my dad retired last week! His colleagues put together a lovely ceremony to celebrate my dad and I loved hearing some of the stories and highlights from his time there although I'm sure there are few things that could EVER top riding in and flying (even if only for a moment) an F-16. Two highlights for me: a coworker made a flag box with cherry wood to hold a flag just for him that had been flown over the Capitol in D.C. and they gave a special award of recognition to my mom as well for her support of him in his career. Did I cry both moments? Of course.

My appreciation for my dad and his career has only grown ever since my husband joined the Air Force as well. Civilians in the AF make things happen and get stuff done. They were some of the people that were the most helpful and supportive to me whenever I had a question or when I was on my own when Ian was deployed.

It's also hard to not get teary thinking about how his career has spanned longer than my own life--his hard work helped my family get into a house just a few months after I was born, provided for me while I was growing up, and helped me eventually leave home for college and start my own family.

Social media example:

KSL News Instagram carousel post shared on September 6, 2024

Design of social post graphics, copy editing, caption copy, posting and management by Anna Thorley.

Reporting and images by Annie Knox and Daniella Rivera (unless otherwise credited).

Click here for a link to the Instagram post.

Social media example:

KSL News Instagram carousel post shared on July 15, 2024.

Design of social post graphics (excluding the last slide), copy editing, caption copy, posting and management by Anna Thorley.

Reporting by Annie Knox and Mike Headrick.

Images courtesy of Boynton family.

Click here for a link to the Instagram post.

Part four: MUSIC!

It was a plentiful year of new music, many coming from a lot of pop gals that all dropped albums within a few weeks of each other. I loved so much of it and I felt the uniqueness of the moment that there was such a abundance of music made by women.

I loved each of these albums, some from artists I've loved for years and some were new discoveries.

What I loved the most about having a new songs from a beloved artist, like Ariana Grande and Kacey Musgraves for me, is the feeling after the first listen through and knowing that it is some of their best work to date. The aesthetics of Ariana's and Kacey's albums enhanced the whole experience ten fold for me as well. Eternal Sunshine is obviously inspired by the incredible Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet movie (one of my all time favorite movies!) and her amazing music video for We Can't Be Friends is the perfect homage. And the titular Deeper Well music video is such a gorgeous compliment to the album artwork. The album is GREEN. Jade Green.

Similarly, I haven't been a huge Billie Eilish fan over the years, but her album Hit Me Hard and Soft is like she made it for me.

Cunningham Bird is the incredible collaboration of Andrew Bird and Madison Cunningham--two artists I have absolutely loved over the years--covering the album Buckingham Nicks by, of course, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks before they joined Fleetwood Mac. They are the perfect people to cover this music and I love that they have breathed new life into an album from 1973.

Unreal Unearth, Older, Trail of Flowers, and The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess were all instant hits with me and will stay on regular rotation over here.

Here's to hoping for a fruitful year of music ahead!

Part three of my 2024 recap: TV!

Like most tired millennials and suburban moms of the late 20th century, I love sitting down with my husband at the end of the day to watch my programs. I think TV can be so fun to watch with friends and family, too, like a shared cultural event we're participating in together. Remember American Idol episodes on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the early 2000s? And more recently, when the first season of The Last of Us would be available on Sunday nights and all of us were crying at work the next day after episode three? Long, Long time is probably my favorite episode of TV ever. I DIGRESS.

I love television and I find it interesting to see what shows are successful when the premiere, what might pick up a new life years later, shows that might not age well, or what bits from 30 rock and Arrested Development will still be funny decades after it aired.

To briefly touch on some of these:

I loved Scavengers Reign and I'm hoping it finds a place to land for season two. I have never seen anything like this show and it deserves to have more runway on this story. I was on the edge of my seat during EVERY episode.

We were late to the Succession party, but it lived up to the praise even though the America Decides episode unearthed some deep dark election anxiety.

I rewatched Jury Duty with Ian and it was almost more fun the second time around.

We found Taskmaster about two years ago and have now caught up on all 18 seasons and have done our own versions of it for Friendsgiving and with our families. It's my comfort show and I think it is one of the most clever shows around.

Part two of my 2024 recap: my favorite movies I watched over the year!

I love seeing movies in the theater and try to go often--there is something extra special about seeing a sandworm on a huge screen and hearing Defying Gravity extra loud. Paired with some cookie dough bites and a luxury lounger with heated seats? Sign me up.

But. Don't @ me. I'm sorry I hadn't seen The Silence of the Lambs until now! It lives up to the hype and I finally know where the dog is from on Brann Dailor's drum head.

I will forever love the artistry that goes into movies and how each calculated shot can be a piece of art all on its own. Cheers to all the DoPs out there that make movies a visual treat with a tall glass of water on the side. I wanted to include some stills that stuck out to me and are a huge source of inspiration.

Big thanks to [FILMGRAB] for having an incredible collection of movie stills! They are doing the internet right.

CREDIT: Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures

CREDIT: Universal Pictures

CREDIT: Starz Entertainment and Lionsgate Films

CREDIT: Warner Bros. and Warner Bros. Pictures

CREDIT: A24

CREDIT: Orion Pictures

CREDIT: Universal Pictures

CREDIT: Shudder, IFC Films, and Umbrella Entertainment

As an enthusiastic consumer of media, I wanted to make a recap of some of my favorites from 2024!

Part one is all about books!

It's no secret that audiobooks have changed my life. I have always liked reading, but actual reading for pleasure hasn't come easily. It's probably just a normal cloud of narcolepsy that descends on all parents of young kids, but I could not read more than two pages without falling asleep. I would challenge myself to read one book a month, or just six books a year, but it eventually became a situation where I'd be able to finish one book a year, maybe.

As a religious listener of the radio since I was 12 (and still listening!), it finally clicked that maybe I am an auditory learner and would be able to enjoy books more if I listened instead of read. Brand new idea, I know! Please give me all the credit. It's not like books on tape were ever a thing. After discovering the Libby app and getting some good headphones, my love of reading has been reignited over the last few years and I can't get enough of it.

Here are my favorite books I read last year, my number one was definitely Planet of the Apes and a close second was Humankind: A Hopeful History.

Holiday card for 2024.

My kids lost 9 teeth over the course of 2024 so I wanted to show off their toothy smiles as much as possible in true "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" fashion. Having triplets is all I've ever known as a parent, but the constant losing of teeth all happening at once is another reminder that being a triplet mom feels can sometimes feel extra unusual. We're sticking to soft foods and hoping the tooth fairy can borrow some bucks if she needs.