Wow, I can’t believe I am celebrating this big milestone in my career. I feel like I’ve come a long way since working from my parents' spare bedroom and drawing on the train on the way to my old job. It’s been a super interesting 5 years and so I want to take a trip down memory lane and share some of the ups and downs, as well as sharing some of my dreams and plans for the future.
Firstly, here are the things that I’m most proud of:
Fundraising
I’ve been donating to conservation charities since 2018, and the thing I am proudest of is that I started off with quite modest amounts (under $100) and have been increasing the fundraising each year. The highlight so far was raising over $10,000 for the tūturuatu (shore plover) at a New Zealand Nature Fund auction event. My total fundraising to date is $23,553 and I hope that I can continue to grow my fundraising each year, to make the most difference possible.
One of my most recent artworks ‘Fiordland Treasure’ of a lecistic South Island tomtit (miromiro)
Focusing on birds!
When I started doing art full-time I was initially drawing native NZ birds along with commissioned pet portraits and other animals too. This was a great way to ensure I had a regular income, with some forward booked work. It was a great experience creating unique commissioned artwork for clients, but my true passion was birds, so in late-2019 I began to focus solely on native bird commissions. In mid-2021 I then stopped booking commission work altogether, as I wanted full creative freedom with what birds and compositions to draw.
As my art had evolved to being primarily large original works - which often take multiple months to complete - I was very limited on how many I could create each year. It’s important to me to be able to share the stories of endangered (and often lesser-known) native birds, or be able to highlight a specific conservation effort when needed. It was a bit scary deciding to not take commissions, but I believe my art is more meaningful this way. For my original artwork collectors who want a specific bird, what I do now is to record what people have requested, and if I draw that bird at some point, I can reach back out and give them the opportunity to purchase it before I share it for sale publicly (requests can be made here).
Travel and birding
I’ve been incredibly fortunate and have explored amazing places I never imagined I’d go to, such as NZ’s Subantarctic Islands, southern Fiordland, Milford Sound, Tiritiri Matangi Island, Cape Kidnappers gannet colony, Ōkārito white heron nesting site, Wingspan Birds of Prey Trust (Rotorua), and many other beautiful bird watching spots around the country. I’ve become a lot more adventurous and outgoing - I used to be so nervous, even driving just a few hours to a new city…and now I’ve driven all the way from Invercargill to Auckland on my own, and many places in between! Even though I often still get nervous, I don’t let it stop me from saying ‘yes’ to exciting adventures and new experiences.
Learning
Photographing birds on Enderby Island in the Subantarctic Islands
📸 Taken by George Findlay
My favourite part of the creative process is spending time in nature observing, photographing and videoing NZ birds. I am very grateful to my friend Judi who lent me a camera in 2018 for the first time, and the knock-on effect it’s had on improving my art. Having the ability to watch the birds first-hand, see their special characteristics and then drawing from my own photos means that I can create unique compositions. I used to only work from other photographers' images (with permission), and sometimes still do to this day (when I’m unable to photograph a specific bird myself), but I strive to draw predominantly from my own photos. Photography is an art in itself and it’s been great learning this new skill and having another creative outlet. Videos are also an amazing way to show the birds in all their beauty and also share the behind the scenes creation of my art too, and so I’ve dipped my toes into video editing, and plan to do a lot more in future; one I’m really proud of is my huia video.
Another huge learning experience was that I created my own website, which was also a milestone for my art business. I was initially selling through Facebook, Instagram and in a few art galleries, but I wanted to build my own website to also promote conservation and make it easy for people to buy my art online. This was quite a daunting task, which took over a month's worth of non-stop work to initially build, and this is something that I regularly update, improve, and continue learning about.
Like all new ventures, not everything has worked out as I’ve thought it would, and often I’ve had to learn via trial and error, and adjust my approach along the way. For some examples, I’ve invested a lot of time and money into stocking in new galleries and exhibiting in art shows - sometimes these go great, and other times not so well. I learnt the hard way that couriers can be rough with packages, so I refined my packaging so that it’s more robust in the post so that artworks arrive in perfect condition. I’ve also refined my gift wrapping and packaging, so that it’s really pretty and a joy to receive (gift wrapping is free, by request at the checkout).
Making new friends and having cool experiences
Gently placing a kākā back in its nest box
📸 Taken by Judi Lapsley Miller
After specialising in native NZ birds, I’ve made so many new friends! For me, social media has been a great way to connect with like-minded people. Working from home as an artist can be lonely at times, but having a community of people you can share your ideas and passions with is a great way to stay motivated. Becoming more involved in the conservation community and attending things like working bees and planting days, I’ve found really fulfilling too. I’ve had some amazing opportunities come about through these wonderful connections - like banding kākā chicks at Zealandia, being interviewed on the ‘Drawing Inspiration’ and ‘Journaling with Nature’ podcasts, and giving a lecture at a Southland Forest and Bird event.
Hannah with Denis and Ulrike from Hawkshead Wine
Collaboration
I’ve loved collaborating over the years, and one of the highlights was working with the New Zealand Nature Fund and Hawkshead Winery. I reached out to them after buying some of their delicious wine and learning more about their brand and background in conservation - I thought it could just be the perfect match! Lucky for me they said yes, and together we’ve raised many thousands of dollars for conservation and also created a beautiful limited edition wine label for their 2019 First Vines Pinot Noir. I’m so glad I reached out to them, as we are currently working on another fundraising project, which I can’t wait to share with you early next year! Through this partnership I’ve also met a lot of passionate conservationists and great people.
Things that I didn’t expect
How much admin there would be! I thought being an artist meant I would get to draw most of the time…but this has not been the case. I do try and consistently draw every day, but I didn’t realise how many skills I needed to learn to be able to run a business, and what portion of my time these would take up. You really do have to ‘wear many hats’ as a professional artist, and I spend a lot of time creating content for social media, writing emails, packing prints, working with galleries, spreadsheets, writing content, website updates and accounting. Another big thing I didn’t expect was to move to Southland! In 2020 my partner Nick and I relocated from Wellington, and we then also even managed to buy our very first home, and have been busy doing renovations in our spare time.
Future goals
At heart, I am quite a shy person and I’m often quite hard on myself, easily dismissing a lot of the hard work I’ve put in and always thinking I should be doing more or better..but it’s nice being able to look back and feel proud of how far I’ve come. I’m really excited for a long career as an artist and I’m happy you’re here on this journey with me. As a final note, I wanted to share some of my ambitions for the next 5 years
My fundraising goal - I’d like to double what I’ve raised so far, so the goal is to raise at least $50,000 more over the next 5 years.
My partner Nick and I would like to buy our own rural property with native bush! Having our own property would be an amazing conservation project - to eradicate predators, do restoration work, plant more trees and create a bird haven to live in. We would also love to start a family - it’ll be a great challenge learning how to balance my art with becoming a parent too.
A dream of mine is to one day have my work displayed at Te Papa.
I want to create more - and better - video content, to share conservation stories, more of my adventures, and the behind-the-scenes of creating each artwork.
Thank you so much for reading! If you’ve enjoyed this, have a question, or want to share some of your ambitions for the next 5 years, please leave me a comment below :)
