Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Hannah Collins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hannah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

In the arts, especially fine arts, people are always telling you that art needs to have meaning; that art without meaning is not powerful… I disagree. I have never put much meaning behind my work, don’t get me wrong there are some pieces here and there that represent a specific idea/story but for the most part, I just paint what I enjoy. I once heard the question: “Is art without meaning just decoration?”, I believe it is, but that’s not a bad thing. I believe that art can be enjoyed without always trying to find a deeper meaning, although that’s not saying art with meaning is not powerful.

Hannah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Like many artists, I have been practicing art since I was a child, although I didn’t take my first art class until I was in 8th grade. For the longest time I viewed art as a hobby, not necessarily a career, and it wasn’t until my second semester of college that I became an art major, and even then I was majoring in Art Education, not Drawing and Painting which is what I got my degree in. My business started to blossom during the beginning months of COVID. I was unemployed, not going to school, yet getting all this money from the government that I didn’t know what to do with, so I decided to start Hannah Collins Art (HCOLNS ART). I started selling art prints and stickers at first, then expanded into other products such as tote bags and selling original pieces. I had always done commissions here and there for people I knew but it was reassuring to sell original art that I had created. I think what I am most proud of is proving people wrong. As weird as that sounds, we as artists are always told that we can’t make a living out of selling art and those conversations stick with us. I used these words from others to really push myself to new creative lengths and pursue what I loved. I love to create beautiful, colorful, and fun portraits that people don’t necessarily have to relate to but can just look at and enjoy what they are seeing.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

The best way to build an audience on social media is by frequently posting new content. this doesn’t mean you have to create something new every day, but if you just post a detail shot or an instagram story, that will drive audiences to your page. I also discovered that TikTok is an amazing place for small businesses, not only for you to learn amazing tips from other businesses but because of the For You page, your business and videos with reach hundreds of not thousands of people who will then interact with your content and then hopefully enjoy it enough to give you a follow or maybe even buy a product!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Social media is a big factor but also being involved with my local art community! This was difficult for me at first because I have social anxiety and I honestly didn’t really put myself out there until my senior year of college, but in the short amount of time since then, my business’ reputation has grown tremendously! It helped a lot that I was actively taking college courses with other creatives but I allowed myself to step out of my comfort zone and that’s when things really took off. I started participating in flea markets where I would sell my art and participated in different art events in my city, one of which was an Art Walk event with a gallery that later took me on and is now exhibiting my work!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hcolnsart.etsy.com
• Instagram: hcolnsart
• Facebook: hcolnsart
• Other: Pinterest: hcolnsart Tiktok: hcolnsart