Meet Hannah Collins | Visual Artist and Small Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hannah Collins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hannah, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
As far as my small business goes… I’m still figuring this out. Before, I had a huge imbalance between my work and social life, I always made excuses for myself so I could hang out with friends rather than getting work done. I think that was more of me dodging responsibility but I would always put aside a painting or other work saying “oh well I can always work on this tomorrow” and then two weeks pass and I still haven’t touched it. I’m getting better at this though, I’ve recently scheduled myself to work on my business, whether that be painting, marketing, emails, etc., from 9-5 every day as if I were being scheduled by someone else. In this time I cannot do personal things such as hang out with friends/watch a movie and afterwards, I am rewarded after a day of hard work. This has really helped me prioritize my business while also having a social life.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Like many artists, I have been practicing art since I was a child, although I didn’t take my first art class until I was in 8th grade. For the longest time I viewed art as a hobby, not necessarily a career, and it wasn’t until my second semester of college that I became an art major, and even then I was majoring in Art Education, not Drawing and Painting which is what I got my degree in. My business started to blossom during the beginning months of COVID. I was unemployed, not going to school, yet getting all this money from the government that I didn’t know what to do with, so I decided to start Hannah Collins Art (HCOLNS ART). I started selling art prints and stickers at first, then expanded into other products such as tote bags and selling original pieces. I had always done commissions here and there for people I knew but it was reassuring to sell original art that I had created. I think what I am most proud of is proving people wrong. As weird as that sounds, we as artists are always told that we can’t make a living out of selling art and those conversations stick with us. I used these words from others to really push myself to new creative lengths and pursue what I loved. I love to create beautiful, colorful, and fun portraits that people don’t necessarily have to relate to but can just look at and enjoy what they are seeing.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would definitely take them to First Friday in downtown Phoenix. It’s just such a cool event where artists and creatives can gather and appreciate each other. I lived in Gilbert so I didn’t make it downtown very often, unless it was for work, but a couple of places that definitely wowed me that I wouldn’t mind sharing with others were Little Rituals, Matt’s Big Breakfast, and Stardust Pinbar/Ziggy’s Magic Pizza Shop! And of course, The Phoenix Art Museum is always a favorite of mine.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to thank my mother for helping me with my academic career. She helped put me through college so I could pursue art and work towards the life I’ve always wanted. Because of this, I was able to make some amazing friends/connections within the art community while also pushing myself (with the help of others) to become a better artist.

Website: www.hcolnsart.etsy.com

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