We recently connected with Hannah Amidon and have shared our conversation below.
Hannah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I always knew I wanted to be an artist. My mother is the one who pathed the path for me. My mom, Karen Libecap, was a photographer, baker, painter, and now does art shows full time and is teaching me how to do them as well. My senior year of high-school is when I came up with my first puns. They came to me in dreams. My first dream was of a mailbox with stripper legs. I began to paint and came to be “She Mail”. My second one was an ear with waves, came to be “Sound Waves”. The last dream that pushed me into this punny world was a nose inside a television which was, “Smellivision”.
I continued to bring these ideas in my mind to life and have been able to translate them in many different mediums. I paint acrylic and watercolor but also sew, work with pottery, and am working of books as well.
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?
I think life is very funny and people tend to take it too seriously as we age. I always say I am a 4 year old at heart with joy being the only thing in my mind. I am a Punny artist who takes simple words or phrases and translates them into illustrated images. I create graphic pun acrylic paintings and more intricate watercolor pun paintings (I make prints of all of these). Now I also work in other mediums. I make “Titty Bears” where I sew boobs I handmade on innocent children teddy bears. I have made a “thumbdrive” molding a thumb out of clay on top of a thumb drive. I am currently working on a “Arm Chair” sewing arms and attaching to a chair. Once that is finished I will make a “Footstool”.
I love what I do because people who have come across my work think of life differently. People who I would’ve never guessed to appreciate art send me messages of puns they thought of. I love spreading joy and hearing giggles while they look at my art.
People inspire me, love inspires me, joy is a beautiful form of art.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I am trying to get involved in publishing books. I have published a children’s book on amazon called, “The Sheep Who Loves to Read” which was the easiest way to publish. However for my series of Pun books I want to do it the right way, hardback and available anywhere. I have found out publishing is very very hard. I cannot find a publisher to even respond, yet alone find an agent. For those wanting to publish it takes a lot of work, and I am here to do it so I can tell you how.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I moved to Nashville in the middle of the pandemic to take over the art scene in 2020. I had a job as a hostess while doing freelance on the side. At the beginning of 2021 I decided to quit my job and pursue art full time. I successfully did it for two months, but boy was it scary. I realized it is okay to not put pressure on myself to do it all now. I’m here to say it is okay to work at a taco shop while pursuing art because you have heart. Work hard and soon your visions will come to life. You will get that job you want, you will sell that painting, you will get the recognition. Just, in the mean time, make as many people smile and inspire yourself every single day.
Contact Info:
- Website: hannahamidonart.com
- Instagram: @hannahamidonart
- Other: Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Kara Beemer https://www.karabeemer.com