We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brooke Hipp a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brooke, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

I started painting three years ago. It was the summer of 2020 and the pandemic was in full force. My garden was blooming and I was making more kombucha than I could drink. After going down an Instagram rabbit hole, I ordered $350 in art supplies from Amazon. Painting was a meditative process for me and there were lots of reasons to need meditation. After a number of months, I had more paintings than I had space. I reached out to a very supportive group of women and asked them about side hustles and what advice they had for me with regard to distributing my paintings. After a little urging, I showed them my work and many asked how they could purchase a painting. That evening was when I made my first dollar as a painter.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started painting as a way to quiet my mind during a very disquieting time. The pandemic was in full force, I had a broken ankle with limited mobility, and everything was turned upside down. I started painting and haven’t stopped and often joke that I’m accidentally good at it. I believe art should give you the feels.

I am passionate about art, creative endeavors and giving back. I believe art should elicit emotion and I’m incredibly humbled by how many people have invited me into their lives through commission work or buying existing pieces. I’ve had work accepted to gallery shows and my art lives all over the country and even in Ireland!

My work represents a train of consciousness and I paint intuitively. Painting is meditative and one of the only times my mind is quiet. My parents judge my emotional state by the type of art I’m painting… and they aren’t wrong. I love experimenting with color, texture, and even assemblage art. I’m passionate about upcycling and reusing what I can in my artistic endeavors. Occasionally, I even rescue furniture to refurbish and keep or sell.

Art allows me to give back to the community. I regularly donate art to causes that are close to my heart for silent auctions and last year, I initiated the first annual ART of GIVING at the firm where I work. If you’re ever on a video call with me, you’ll always see my newest piece of art hanging out behind me on an easel. The ART of GIVING ties to our corporate core purpose of helping people thrive, every day – and allowed our people with crafty or creative talents to donate their wares in an online auction format for purchase with all proceeds being donated to an organization that helps people thrive, through art.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Seek ways to support your friends who are creatives and artists. Need a gift? Look at who is in your ecosystem and purchase from them. Can’t afford to buy anything right now? Share your friend’s posts or mention someone you appreciate in a post. Be specific about what you admire. For example, do you admire their use of color, their use of materials, or their hustle? Do you struggle with how to support the creative in your life because you don’t resonate with your friend’s artistic style? That’s ok. Ask them to recommend someone they know. Most artists are happy to point you in the direction of another artist. Creatives need to support one another. It’s not a competition and we all benefit from building up others. There’s a saying that I like: Kindness doesn’t cost anything… sprinkle it everywhere.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Art for me is about human connection. I create because it makes me happy and it makes other people happy. I have so many interesting conversations about art and I learn so much about people just by having my art visible. People love to share what they like, their favorite artists, or about their own creative endeavors. It also provides a way to make an impact and give back to society. Donating art is a tangible way I can make a difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.brookehipp.com
• Instagram: @brookehippart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookehipp/

Image Credits
Desiree Allard