American artist Anitra Antonelli was born in 1929. She spent a number of her early adulthood years living in Holland, travelling Europe, and drawing wherever she went. Upon returning to the United States, she worked as an illustrator for a literary publisher. At the time Julian and Karen met Anitra in 2013, she was living among the thousands of homeless on the streets of Los Angeles selling her art to survive. She could reliably be found displaying her art for sale at The Last Bookstore during Downtown LA Artwalk Thursdays.

Julian and Karen were successful at finding temporary housing for Anitra at The Alexandria, a repurposed downtown hotel used for low-income/indigent housing, but she "disappeared" from the Los Angeles art scene sometime in 2014/2015. Despite numerous attempts to find her, we have no knowledge of her current whereabouts.

Anitra had an unusual system of not signing her works until the actual point of sale. Her works are characterized by the date of completion and location, with the date of sale and her signature sometimes added decades later.