Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Brooks.
Hannah, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was one of those kids who could always draw pictures for someone’s birthday. You got a new puppy? Have a drawing of that puppy. Your favorite color is green? Green birthday cake, an easy one. So it wasn’t really a surprise to my family and friends that I wanted to continue creating art as I got older. However, as many people in this profession have been asked before, the dreaded question of “How do you expect to support yourself?” rears its ugly head. As a young impressionable college freshman at Georgia State University, I withdrew from all my drawing and design classes and started taking English literature courses.
During my dive into English literature, I was also involved with the marching band. Making costumes and crafts for my section and friends was still natural for me, and each yeah, they would get better and better. We even won a couple awards from my creations, and it was one of my favorite parts about being in the band. Also becoming uniform captain, I was tasked with fixing uniforms by hand on short notice, and I began to remember how much I liked to make things with my hands again.
Long story short, English didn’t make me feel happy and overall didn’t work out and in the back of my head, all I kept hearing was, “How are you going to support yourself?” So without a major and without anything else going for me, I changed my major December 20th, 2017. I was in Drawing one again Monday at 8 am first day of Spring 2018.
Since that day, I haven’t wanted to do anything else except create art. With the help of my first art professor, I decided I wanted to focus on drawing, painting, and printmaking, even though I had no idea about the printmaking. It wasn’t until a year later that I learned what printmaking was and fell absolutely in love with it. Thanks to Stephanie Kolpy and the printmaking department at Georgia State, I was accepted into the concentration.
Now currently, learning, teaching, and showing people printmaking is one of my favorite things to do. Luckily, printmaking was made for sharing ideas and working together as a community. I’m glad I’ve been given opportunities to show my dedication for this medium and curate shows with associations with the printmaking department and the printclub at Georgia State University. I am focused on continuing to teach and create works that can then teach people about themselves.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No roads are without speed bumps, unfortunately. There is the struggle of not always having the support of your “realistic” friends and family who think they are just looking out for you. Thankfully, many of those people changed their tune and are very supportive now.
Another for me is dealing with mental health, anxiety and depression, standing in the way. Deciding to pursue anything creative is a large leap of faith, and it took me four years of college to finally gain the courage to at least try. Mental health is still something that affects everything I do, but choosing to make art and believing in myself has changed a lot of my perspectives on life.
Still to this day, a challenge for me is thinking about the future and what is holds since creative professions do hold a lot of uncertainty. I envy friends who decided with more stable career paths since they may know what their future looks like, but I have to keep telling myself that everything will be okay and I am happy with my decision.
We’d love to hear more about your art.
I am primarily a printmaker and painter, however, I have been dabbling in curation. There are many different types of printmaking, but I spend most of my time making monoprints. The ability to maintain luminosity in a monoprint is incredible and it is a fantastic tool for creating many prints that share elements and creating a larger body faster.
The versatility of using a plexi matrix seems almost endless. The fact I can incorporate old drawings from years ago into a print today with ease is remarkable. I feel I stand out from others because of the use of these monoprints. Lots of printmakers find their niche and stick to it. I feel with monoprinting. Specifically, I can accomplish a wider array of ideas while a relief print can only offer so much.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Stephanie Kolpy, my printmaking professor at Georgia State University, has really believed in my dedication to the medium and pushes me to be a better artist. I have also learned how to be a better teacher from her. She inspires me to nurture my students and help them think about life and art critically. She taught me art is a social medium, so the messages we share need to have importance. Without her as a mentor, I do not think I would like the artist I am today. I am very thankful for her.
My friends, Linka, David, and Maria have been supportive of me since day one. They may not be artists themselves, but they put up with me asking for their opinions and when I go off about some artist practices, I haven’t explained yet. My family has been very supportive as well and without them, I couldn’t get getting this education.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 6787871243
- Email: brooksh333@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahlibrooks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/H.Brooks1313/
Image Credit:
Hannah Brooks
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
