By Nkosenhle Sibisi
Assagay based artist, Hannah Paine expresses herself through art. She has been painting all her life and believes that art is everywhere and all around us. Paine(59) has ran her successful wholesale business for many years and has made her artwork commercially viable by manufacturing functional ceramics and supplying over 300 stores in South Africa. She uses her living space, in a beautiful Macnut Farm as her bigger canvas. Her artwork is inspired by florals as she said that florals have always been a subject inn her creations. The Westville Weekly Gazette sat on the couch and got to know more about this remarkable artist.
Westville Weekly Gazette (WWG): Who is Hannah Paine?
Hannah Paine (HP): I am a deep thinking passionate person that never takes a single day in my life for granted. I am also fun loving, motivated and very open.
WWG: What sparked your love for art, painting to be specific?
HP: I was born with love for art, it was a gift. I re-connected with the love for painting specifically when I spent a year long sabbatical in Bali, Indonesia, and joined a group of artists. We got together twice a week to do life drawing and painting. It was the commitment to be there that assisted in re-igniting my passion and joy for painting.
WWG: How long have you been painting?
HP: I have painted all of my life, I used different materials to express myself through art. I doodled my way through school.
WWG: What inspires your artwork?
HP: Nature is my greatest inspiration and all things beautiful. I have journeyed through exploring different subject studies and always seem to return to florals. I am also fascinated with the micro world that is so often overlooked and overshadowed by what the eyes first perceive.
WWG: What are some of your biggest career highlights?
HP: Sustaining myself and creating a successful wholesale business through manufacturing and supplying over 300 stores in South Africa and abroad with functional art and décor items. Opening my own art gallery last year at Macnut Farm was definitely a career highlight for me.
WWG: Describe your obsession with florals?
HP: I have an appreciation for the beauty of colour and form as well as the diversity of creation that is expressed through the joyful , vibrant and colourful expression of florals. No two flowers compete with each other, they are all unique and special.
WWG: Describe your artwork in three words
HP: Bold, captivating and mood.
WWG: What are some of the challenges that you have faced in your career?
HP: To be commensurately rewarded for my time, effort and skill. I am very fortunate to have a number of creative talents and to give justice to it all is sometimes a challenge.
WWG: What keeps you going?
HP: I am driven by passion to create a more beautiful world. By creating beautiful art, I feel like I am contributing in a small way towards that. I would love to fulfil my vision of building a stained glass chapel.
WWG: Do you think art is taken seriously in South Africa?
HP: As a developing country, the pool of buyers for quality art is very small, making it very difficult for fine art to be a sustainable career.
WWG: What makes one a good artist?
HP: Dedication, perseverance and a love for the subject and medium. It boils down to 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. To complete an artwork takes devotion.
WWG: What is the first thing you do before starting with your painting?
HP: First I connect with my subject matter. I love challenging myself technically with every work I start. In order to grow even more as an artist, I choose a subject that will stretch me more every time and will require dedication and growth as a person.
WWG: What do you do in your spare time?
HP: What spare time? Creative people do not have this luxury! Ha ha, I explore life through writing and music.
WWG: Your message to upcoming artists?
HP: Believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams and that anything is possible. Silence the nay sayers and dance to the beat of your own drum. Be authentic.
