Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Ricke

Hi Hannah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I had just earned my master’s in clinical social work when I quit the job I had and undertook to solo backpack all 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. (I ended up completing 1800 miles in 5 months). And the entire time I backpacked, I wondered, “What would it look like if I really tried to be an artist?”

So I never have used my masters! I really tried to be an artist, and have been a full time paper collage artist for three years.

Now I’m wondering, “What would it look like if I really tried to be an artist-writer-backpacker?”

Because the solitude, the endurance, the thrill, the independence of backpacking is something I want to share with others.

I keep journals as I backpack, and have turned those writings into solo storytelling shows that I’ve produced in the US and internationally. I simply read my journals to my audience, accompanied with my own photography. It’s a simple format, but I’ve heard from people that it’s powerful. Through writing, I’ve learned that I can make backpacking and all its challenges and rewards accessible and beautiful to people.

I want the challenges and rewards of backpacking (the solitude, the endurance, the thrill, the independence) for myself, and I want it for women, and I”m confident that I can inspire people to explore the Two Wildernesses (the one in Nature and the one in Themselves) through my art, writing, and leading pack trips.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

Now I’m at an interesting pivot point. I no longer want just what “MentalPaint” (my collage artist/business) brought me…I want more meaning, more purpose.

I’ve learned that comfort is a cold house. Creating collages and posting them on Instagram to sell has MIRACULOUSLY worked for me for three years. But it’s no longer enough, and I’m finally willing to put in the work that a life and business of more meaning will demand.

I’ve struggled with how to connect with an audience that I feel has lost interest. I’ve struggled with how to motivate people to do what I want. I’ve learned that I am a blood tyrant! I want to be obeyed! Haha!

But that is not life.

So I’ve realized painfully that my social media presence must become secondary to my in-person one. Which brings forth an entire host of new challenges. But Brene Brown says that people are hard to resent close-up…lean in. So this is also that.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

I’m known for mixed media paper collages. But that art form, lush and juicy as it is, has gotten too small.

I still want to be an artist. I feel a flow when I’m creating that is rare and beautiful. So, in this pivot, I don’t want to end creating, but I do want to end creating so small.

That means creating literally larger pieces. Relying less on recycled books for my materials, and more on my own paintings, drawings, and writing.

I think one of my strengths is my ability to translate my international backpacking experiences into beautiful, inspiring ideas and into earthy adventures that make people gasp. I have learned I can do this through art, and now I want to explore it through writing, and leading people on pack trips so that they can learn how to lead themselves.

I just concluded a RIDICULOUS month where I rented a gallery space and produced four solo shows: one art show, and three storytelling shows. The success of these shows has proven to me that I’m on the right track, that I can stand at the confluence of art and writing and backpacking and bring people along with me into those wildernesses.

I’m proud that I have already led one pack trip: I called it a “group solo hike”, and I led it to see if I was at all effective at conveying what I hoped. And I heard such astonishing feedback, such LIFE AFFIRMING feedback that I thought, “Okay, this is it!”

And now I can go forth with the pivot with more evidence that I have what it takes to see the success of my next venture into light.

Who else deserves credit in your story?

My collectors deserve credit. I always say that the most valuable thing one person can give another is the reason to dream. As ugly as “money” can be, it IS the way to freedom because it allows for space to dream.

So my collectors, that have invested in my art have invested in ME. My future and dreams, and their purchases prove they believe in my future and dreams.

And God, who I call the “Everhawk”. I have learned that I have a strong inner compass, and it is because of Them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.twowilderness.com
• Instagram: two.wilderness

Image Credits

all photos are my own!