We were lucky to catch up with Heather Hitchman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Heather, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
My most meaningful project I’ve worked on has been my world building endeavor, a world of art and stories set in a paranormal fantasy realm I call “Terratoff”. Inspired by “The Bridge to Terabithia” story I ream as a child, Terratoff was conceived as a make believe place my friends and I would go to play games and escape the trials of bullying and growing up in general. For me this imaginary realm provided a much needed hideaway from a particularly toxic religious environment.
As I matured, the idea morphed into a wellspring for my creativity. I would spend countless hours drawing the fantasy creatures I longed to encounter, as well as creating stories for each of them. These tales were a subconscious expression of the struggles I faced, as well as the cherished lessons and memories I wanted to keep.
After I left an extremely toxic studio work environment, I was left feeling lost, defeated, and unsure of my future, I was then asked if I could do anything at all , what would it be? I replied that I would make Terratoff a reality. From that day on I delved head first into the process of constructing an overarching story and refining the building blocks of lore I had scattered across dozens of journals. It has been both a healing and difficult road as I attempt to process all I have experienced into this story and the art that goes along with it. My hope is that this fantasy realm will inspire hope to young girls, boys, and everyone in between who felt as I did as a child. For anyone who feels like they do not belong, they can find magic belonging in Terratoff.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Heather R Hitchman and I am a full time independent creator. I am creating a world building project of fantasy art and stories I call “The Realm of Terratoff”.
I have been drawing and crafting stories since I can remember. Even before I could write I would draw my own little picture books, memorize the story I made up, and “read” the tale out loud to my family at the dinner table. Thus began a lifelong love and passion for art and story telling.
When I went to college I had wanted to pursue animation as a means to bring my fantasy worlds to life. But after some soul searching (and having several nasty experiences trying to break into the industry) I realized that while I still loved animation, the art form was not for me and the work culture would snuff out my creativity. So I decided to find a way to make my ideas a reality on my own.
I began to forge my own way working on my original art and stories about a fantasy realm I had created as a child, “Terratoff”. I had no idea so many others would relate to the struggles and triumphs explored by the characters in my sketchbooks. Soon enough people started to collect my work, and I went on the road sharing my creations at Comic Cons and at Renaissance Fairs.
The more others supported my dream to make Terratoff a reality, the more the realm could grow! I started a Patreon community where other “Terratoffians” could take part in the shaping of this world. Their enthusiasm and devotion helped me to bring several other Terratoff projects to life.
The support has allowed me to explore many more avenues to fully flesh out this world beyond art and short stories. I have been able to complete a 64 card deck of “Rott & Hero” oracle cards that teach the royal subjects of the realm all about the villains and heroes of the story. Currently I am collaborating with a musician to make our first Terratoff album, with instrumental songs inspired by the various races and characters of the story. These songs will eventually make their way into my YouTube channel so that viewers who want to watch the process of this world come to life can fully immerse themselves in the realm.
In a world full of stories that are remakes, single season hits, or told from a perspective we have all heard before, I truly wanted to pursue this as a means to “write the book I wanted to read.” A story about a mute girl who gets whisked away by a pair of ghosts to a fantasy realm, beats the odds, and becomes her own hero and finds her voice along the way. It is my hope that I can spend the rest of my days building up this magical realm of art and stories for fantasy fans to lose themselves in, and inspire other artists to pursue their own creative endeavors.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
From around 2017 up until COVID began my main avenue for sharing my work and making income was public events like Comic Cons and Renaissance Fairs. However, once the plague began there were no more shows to take part of! My strategy had to completely change in order to continue to share my work with the world.
I began focusing on my online presence, experimenting with new ways to offer my art to my audience, and finding a new work life balance that would sustain me as a creative person and a working artist. The transformation is still ongoing, I consider myself currently in a season of “sowing” as I rebuild the foundation of my business. COVID made me realize I was relying far too heavily on one source of income, it was a real wake up call that I think will benefit me in the long run. I started reading books about business and learning all I could about passive income through licensing my art, utilizing print on demand services, and offering downloadable options to keep things afloat.
The overhaul is challenging to say the least, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn these new skills and see how tall these new acorns will grow. One day I hope that my online and passive income will sustain my business to the point where I can participate in public events more as a self funding vacation than a whirlwind work event.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I wish I had not been conditioned so much as a child and by the animation industry to overwork myself. Burn out is REAL and sooner or later it comes to all of us who push too hard. I realized too late that the constant pressure to produce at all costs was making me (and my art) suffer greatly. Since making my own peace a priority, I am finding the joy of creating again and making artwork and stories that mean so much more to me and truly come from my soul. The book “Do Nothing” by Celeste Headlee was a great starting point for me to unlearning and remaking my work life balance.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.terratoff.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherhitchman/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Terratoff/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/heatherhitchman
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6v7HRFP87jUB-bQz3-IPyw
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/terratoff
Image Credits
Heather R Hitchman