We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dennis Hansbury. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dennis below.

Dennis, appreciate you joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I worked for a furniture retailer doing graphic communication and sign making for over seventeen years, which came to an end in May of 2023. During that time I always sold my artwork on the side and treated it like a hobby, never taking the chance to see what I could really do. Now, faced with the reality that I could no longer rely on a steady income, I put 100% effort into my creativity. I decided to give myself until the end of the year to see how it would go. In that short time, being able to focus on my artwork like never before, I was able to have the most successful year in my history of selling artwork. It’s now 2024 and I must think more strategically and push myself further than before. It will be a challenge, but one of the best ones I’ve ever faced.

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?

It really all began in 2005. I had moved to Arizona from New Jersey and for a short period had no new job. I wanted to fill my free time with creativity. Etsy was still in its infancy and I thought it would be a great platform to try and sell my artwork. I taught myself to crochet (and won 3rd place on Etsy’s Amigurumi Contest), sold shrinky-dink accessories, and horror/spooky themed illustrations. A few months later I found employment but continued making and selling artwork online. In 2007 I moved to Orlando to pursue a higher role in the company I was at, and soon found that the city had an amazing art scene. I met other amazing artists and was able to start creating paintings and illustrations for shows all across the city. In 2015 my partner and I began vending at local comic book conventions. We then started to travel across the country promoting our work, but doing fan art and trying to keep up with trends never brought me the same satisfaction that my personal work did. In 2018, while vending at Tampa Bay Comic Con, the attendees loved and supported all of my handmade creations, telling me each time to stick with my own designs and continue to push myself. Six years later I am so happy I stuck with what I loved and have had the most fun creating artwork that has been adopted from all across the country and internationally. If it wasn’t for the support of so many amazing people, I would never have found the success I’ve had.

When asked what sets my artwork apart from others, the first thing that comes to mind art my stories. I use ink, watercolor, gouache, and my scroll saw to create the artwork, but often the image needs a depth that no tool can provide. I will never claim I’m a good poet, but all of my work has an accompanying story that takes the viewer a little further into the piece. I’ve had people stand at my table in conventions, flipping through my artwork, reading the stories, passing them along to their friends – and the reactions I see, whether it be a little fear, a laugh, or sometimes sadness, makes me feel like I succeeded as an artist. I’m not a prideful person, but those moments fill me delight and gratification.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I must say that while my current audience is not gigantic, I would be nowhere without them!

In 2018 I don’t believe I broke 1,000 followers yet on my Instagram! We tried every trick in the book to gain more by posting a certain times, using 30 hashtags, knocking on wood, you name it. What changed was once I began posting HOW I created my wood work and shared more of my personal artwork and ideas. With the newfound confidence I gained from an amazing event, I showed off all of my spooky cute and macabre artwork. From 900 I grew to 1,500, to 4,000, and within six months, hit 9,000 followers! I could only attribute that rise to finding my audience and confidently supporting the niche I enjoyed.

Of course, times change and the platforms we use do what they must to monetize and succeed. I’ve read countless artists’ posts about how disappointing it is to use social media nowadays, but no matter what, it is an amazing tool that helps me get my artwork in front of people all around the world.

So my advice: have fun! Share your work, follow people that inspire you to be a better artist, and build trust with the followers you gain. I can’t tell you how many people transitioned from “customer” to friend, and that’s due to them knowing the artist behind the work and connecting to the things you provide.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I crave stability. Blame it on how I was raised, or the fact I’m a Taurus, but being financially stable has always been a mainstay of my adult life. In 2023, after working for the same company for over 17 years and enjoying the comfortability that a steady paycheck provides, I found myself facing an unknown future. I took a short vacation for my birthday to New Orleans with my fiancée and fellow artist, then returned and focused on what I had to do: be creative.

Luckily in the months following that, I sold my artwork at two amazing events and had incredible success in my online shop. To be honest, it is stressful. When you are a full-time artist you wage this war inside between what you want to make, and what you think will sell. Often, what you think will sell, won’t, and what you goofed of and made, will be a hit!

It’s 2024 now. The entire year is ahead of me and while it can be overwhelming to think about all that must be done, taking it one day at a time and finding those little successes, is what will help propel me further than I’ve gone before.

Well, at least I hope so!!

Contact Info:

• Website: dennishansbury.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/dennis_hansbury
• Linkedin: Dennis Hansbury
• Other: TikTok: dennishansbury