Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Massey.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Hannah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have been an artist for most of my life. It has been a platform to be able to share my creative process with others. I have been selling my art since I was younger, my father was a world-renown artist and fortunately I was able to learn a lot from him. Some of my most fond memories growing up were watching my dad create in our garage which was his studio. Coming from a family of 8 children with an artist father and mother who wrote poetry you can imagine a lot of creating was happening around me. Every year my family would put on an open house and sell our work. That was probably the beginning for me where I got more serious about doing commissions, paintings, wood-carvings, etc and began selling my art.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Art is this ever-changing ebb and flow just as the seasons. For me, it is not always this rigid thing, it can be extremely messy and uncomfortable. For me creating has been a means of healing and navigating through a vast array of seasons being it joy, sorrow, confusion, excitement, or uncertainty. Ever since I was little I can remember doodling, painting, or writing as a means of processing. Not that I really knew what I was actually doing. For me the most sacred and raw creative process was in my grieving. After losing my brother to heroin and just shortly after that losing my father to brain cancer, art was such a tool to process what my heart and mind were trying to express. I think it was interesting that I didn’t really have to speak but my heart was speaking for me. My dad and I once had a conversation about this very topic and my dad said something that has stuck with me to this day. He said, “Art is not just the finished product, but more so the process and the journey it took the person through in the making.” I believe you don’t need to have your work hanging on the walls of a museum or a gallery to be called an artist. Art is more the colorful unraveling of process with soul, mind, and heart.
There are always ideas swirling around, yet it feels like there’s never enough time to do them all. I think there is this persona that since you are really passionate about something that it is always easy to get into it but I have found that it can take a lot of work just like anything else and it can take truly pressing into it even when you are facing a block or aren’t inspired. There are definitely seasons where I am doing a lot more art and creative things and there are times where my time is taken by other things. I think there’s a balance of giving yourself grace yet putting in the time. I can go months without even touching a paintbrush and times where I am creating every day.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with SEEDS – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
SEEDS comes from this idea that through my art I hope to sprinkle these seeds in which I have been given to inspire, bring hope, empower and encourage others, and share my heart. There are a lot of different creative outlets I have so it is kind of an all-encompassing platform for them to be in one place, whether it is my paintings, jewelry, photography, wood-carving, etc. Currently it is more of my wooden jewelry, paintings, and greeting cards.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Well, I am currently in my third trimester of pregnancy and my husband and I are so excited to welcome our sweet girl into the world come April! With that said, I am sure that motherhood will bring a lot of new passions to my heart as well as new inspiration! I plan on working from home eventually and pursuing creative outlets while I am taking care of little Indigo.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/SEEDSbyhannah
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seedsbyhannah
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/seedsbyhannah
- Other: http://hannahwoods7.wixsite.com/seeds
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
