Thanksgiving, Give Thanks

I love Thanksgiving. Who doesn't really? It's a day when most Americans take a break, log off, and reflect on the prior year and the year to come.

In our family tradition, we always go around the table and say one thing that we are thankful for. Mostly family, friends, food, shelter, love. All good things.

This year I'm also thankful for everyone who has supported this wild dream of mine to become a professional artist. It's not something I ever contemplated moving out of the "hobby" realm until YOU showed me that I could. So THANK YOU for your encouragement and love.

THANK YOU for buying my art.

THANK YOU for putting me in touch with industry professionals to answer my questions.

THANK YOU for networking with me and on my behalf.

THANK YOU for giving me a chance to create something unique for you.

THANK YOU for taking my business cards and passing them along to your friends and acquaintances and interior decorators. (And let me know if you want more!)

THANK YOU for telling me I can and AM doing it.

And in looking ahead to 2017, let me know what I can do for YOU.

Thank you for everything.

xo

Hannah

Brushstrokes for Brayden

Most people know that I have a few causes that are close to my heart: healthcare, women's empowerment, the arts. I've done a lot of volunteer work and work-work raising funds and awareness, organizing, planning and jumping in wherever needed to give back, mentor and generally help out.

And over the years, I've asked for much support from my friends and family and community and have always been blown away by the resounding response.

In particular, through my work at The Brides Project and the Cancer Support Community of Greater Ann Arbor, I've seen the emotional, financial and logistical challenges faced by a family dealing with cancer. It's pervasive. It's unmooring.

There's always another person, family or community to help. And for me, this month, it comes in the form of a charity art auction for the Ackermann family, whose 2 and a half year old son, Brayden has been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). 

I had never heard of this cancer, until a community of artists via Instagram decided to put together an art auction to raise money. DIPG only affects about 300 children per year, and what's particularly scary is that Brayden was happy and seemingly healthy, until one day he lost use of the left side of his body. Of course his parents rushed him to Westchester Children's Hospital, not knowing what to think.

How utterly devastating to learn that your child has a difficult diagnosis that's rarely cured. And then to have to find the strength to do everything possible in the face of that and to preserve a normalcy and quality of life as much as possible for a child who may or may not really understand what is happening to him or her.

To try to help offset the financial worries for the Ackermann family, over 90 artists from around the world have donated pieces for an art auction to be held Friday September 16 - Sunday September 18. The auction will open on Friday at 7am Eastern on Instagram @brushstrokesforbrayden. Here's the link for those that want to check it out or pass it along.

The artworks are currently being posted to that Instagram account so you can see what's available before the auction opens. Opening bids are very reasonable, but hopefully we can raise a lot more money and awareness!

Please spread the word to your art loving friends, even if you don't bid yourself. And if you find something you love, but don't have Instagram, let me know, and we can discuss a proxy bidding system. I'm Artwork #9.

Thanks for always being there and exceeding my expectations.

xo

Hannah

The Life of a Commissioned Painting

I'm thrilled to work one-on-one with friends and family and clients to paint something in my style that is uniquely for them. I'm always nervous in sending the final photos, hoping and praying that they will love it as much as I do. (Because when you work on something so much, you have to love it in the end...or else you would keep painting, as you'll see below.) But what happens if they don't love it? And how does this whole commission business work anyway?

The process is fairly simple and straightforward: you email me saying you'd like to commission a painting. We'll talk about your budget, your space, the size of the wall, what colors you have in your mind, etc.

I'll send you a contract with all of the agreed upon details and logistics like delivery date, downpayment and shipping. Even among friends, a contract formalizes everything so there's no confusion or hurt feelings.

It works best if you already like my work and my style because if I try to recreate someone else's style that you love, it probably won't turn out how either of us wants. So there's a bit of trust that I'm going to run with what we've discussed, and you won't see it until the end.

Below is a commission I did recently; flip through the pictures to see how I changed and re-changed a particular section (upper-middle-right) that I wasn't happy with: it went from too dark, to too blue, to starting over with white, to WAY too green, to the final peachy version in the end.

When I'm completely satisfied with the final product, I'll send you some photos and we'll set up a time to chat on the phone; but what if you don't like what I've painted?

Well if it's a matter of a particular area or tiny part of the work, no problem, tell me what's bothering you, and I'll tweak it. If it's that you hate the whole thing altogether, you are under no obligation to buy it, but unfortunately I won't be able to refund your deposit, since work has been done, materials purchased, etc. I will always try to work with you as much as possible to turn the painting into something you love.

I truly love collaborating on commissions and painting with someone in mind and working to make them happy. Obviously I love painting in general, but it's extra special and purposeful knowing that a home is already being made for the piece.

What to collaborate? Use the contact sheet to email me about commissioning a painting! I have 4 commission spots left for 2016 and look forward to working with you!