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 Mustache earrings on display. I haven’t been posting much new art here, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been a busy bun so far this year. I’ve been a jewelry-making maniac. Right now you can purchase Pirate Bunny earrings, Skull! earrings, Dinosaurs in Bunny Masks prints, and Bun is the Knight! prints at both 323east and Starkweather Arts Center. You can also buy all those and much more on my Etsy shop as well.
My latest jewelry project has been that pop culture phenomenon: mustaches. I’m not too crazy about hopping on the Trend Train, but my friend Cory Christensen decided to have a mustache party to celebrate his birthday. I don’t look too cute with a false mustache glued to my face. A lot of ladies can pull that off and look cute, but not me. I decided to try designing mustache earrings instead. With there being so many mustache designs out there I did some research into what kinda hasn’t been done, at least so much. Yeah. There were no dangle earrings with mustaches (I could only find one or two earrings at all and they were metal on posts). There is only so much you can do with the mustache design so that it still reads as a mustache. I did a bunch of drawings and settled on one I liked the most and set to work making a template.
 Mustache charms before baking.  Mustache charms after baking. After transferring the design to sheets of brown plastic, I cut them out with scissors and used a hole punch to make the holes. The pieces shrink down to three times smaller and become 9x thicker after baking. The baking process makes each piece slightly different, so I pair up pieces that look the best together. They are put on French wire hooks made of surgical steel before I put them on hanging cards with handwritten information on them. So, that is basically how I make earrings. These are some of the simplest earrings I make. More complicated earrings like the Pirate Bunnies have a few more steps involved. The mustache earrings aren’t on Etsy yet because I need to take some other photos of them before I list, but they will be up soon.
 
This weekend I commented on the Weekend Forum over at Escape from Illustration Island about how I make money as an artist, specifically all the diversification I do to further my career. Today Thomas James wrote a follow up piece about the responses, and some excerpts of what I wrote were featured. You can read about what I and other illustrators said about making money as an artist on Escape from Illustration Island.
 I made this painting in the summer of 2009 for my Bunderland show and only just now found a nice photo to edit to put it into my portfolio. I wanted a classic icon for the show at Five15 and was drawn to the classic image of Marilyn Monroe with her dress flying up. I did the painting on MDF wood panel, and used a lot of metallic gold paint. Metallic paints add an additional level to the piece that you can only see in person. I wanted to ‘reward’ people who came to the show in person with little treats like this.
Now the piece is up for sale on my Etsy shop. I’ve been slowly adding more and more to the shop. There are now seven original pieces for sale there and three prints. Soon I’ll be adding jewelry, but I’m still working on a back-log of them for various shows before I post any online.
I haven’t been posting too much stuff lately. No worries. I’m just doing a whole lot of behind the scenes prepping for the rest of the year. I’m trying to work on my jewelry line by making a large inventory and I’m looking into lots of different display stuff. My Etsy is up, but there are only a few things in there. I’ll have the jewelry on there, but first I’m waiting to here from a local show. I’ll need to have as much work as possible for that. Then things are going up on Etsy. I’m serious about doing a lot of sweet indie craft and art shows this year, and this one is in my sights. I got a shipment of supplies today that have me really excited too.
Oh, and I joined a gym with my dear friend, Miss Lauren Moyer. January is a busy month over here. I love it.
I know, I know. Everyone in the world hated the year that was 2009. Unemployment, foreclosure, recession, rampant celebrity death.
Well, 2009, you are in luck. I happen to think you were a pretty kick ass year. Sure, there was plenty of stress to go around, but I had love, bunnies, and art. What more can I really ask for? I think I could probably sit here and make a list 100 points long of all the wonderful things I did and experienced this year, but instead I present you with a list of 9 items pertaining solely to my career as an artist in honor of the year that was ‘09.
 1.) My first magazine cover. First things first, I started 2009 off with a bang with my first magazine cover. Not only that, but they used spot illustrations taken from the cover inside the magazine and even listed me on the contributers’ page. Jerry Sarkody from Detroiter magazine asked me to do some thumbnails for their January 2009 issue that was distributed at the North American International Auto Show. Jerry was a wonderful art director that I hope I can work with again some day.
2.) I met some really inspiring and wonderful people. This might actually be my favorite item on the list. Shows go up and come back down, but the connections you make are what really count in an art career. I just want to take a moment and tell you about just a few of the people I met this year. First, there is the absolutely fabulous Kill Taupe. He has given me so much confidence in doing low brow and character art just by kicking so much ass with his work. He helped me get my first national show (more about that in a moment), and is always willing to give me advice. Then there is Kristin Kiernicki, who is as fellow CCS alum. She is a wonderful illustrator and has been putting together a program at Starkweather Arts Center for art classes. She tapped me to teach some lessons there. While I haven’t had a chance to start any of the classes yet, I cannot thank her enough for the opportunity.
3.) My first national show. Kill Taupe curated a really fun group character show this summer called Meth & Hot Dogs. It took place in a gallery in St. Louis. Even though there were some hiccups with the gallery, it was a great experience. It was the first time I was showing my work outside of Metro Detroit and to an audience that didn’t have anyone I knew. It felt great.
4.) My first solo show. I have done plenty of shows, but this year was my very first solo show: Bunderland. I cannot thank Five15 and my contact there, Richard Payton, enough. He is incredibly supportive of me and my Puff Buns. Everyone there bent over backwards to accommodate me and make it not only a great opening, but a great show the entire time. If you live anywhere near Royal Oak I highly recommend you stop in and visit them. They are one of my favorite stores beyond helping me with my career so much.
5.) I made some great connections at places to show my work. Commissions are great, but my favorite thing to do is show my art to the public. This year I made some great connections and deepened my relationships with several galleries/shops. I just mentioned Five15 as the site of my first solo show. I’ve been in several group shows at Lift, and they also have a few of my pieces there on consignment. I have a few items I’ve made for sale right now at 323East. Green Brain has been a recent addition to the list of places I show with some regularity, but one I thoroughly enjoy working with. My goal for 2010 isn’t so much to make more connections like these, but to strengthen the ones I have even further.
6.) The explosion of the Puff Buns™. If I had a personal nickname for 2009 it would be “The Year of the Puff Buns.” Almost every single show this year has been Puff Bun art with very few exceptions. I remember trepidation over focusing so much on doing Puff Bun paintings earlier this year. I saw them as a distraction from more “serious” work, but they were so much fun that I wanted to see if others liked them. I am so happy that my silly little bunny paintings amuse others.
7.) I brushed up on an old medium. I decided to take a stab at the silkscreen again. I haven’t used it since a short class five years ago in college. It worked out very well and it was a great learning experience. I’m going to do way more of it in 2010.
 8.) I learned how to use a new medium. For Noel Night this year I thought I’d take a stab at jewelry and magnet making. I used a lightweight plastic and designed Pirate Bunny and skull earrings/necklaces, as well as Puff Bun magnets. Noel Night was somewhat of a market test and it went incredibly well. Now I have them for sale at 323East and am working on an Etsy shop. I’m also hoping to do some other low-key artist markets and fairs this next year.
9.) I worked consistently throughout the entire year. I was in eleven different shows this past year. I was busy with some art-related project every single month of the year. That is on top of my 9-5 graphic design job. Here’s to hoping that 2010 follows in 2009’s footsteps.
 Original Cover - Click for larger view Alright, it is late and I have to work in the morning, but I finally finished my piece for Green Brain Comics and their Covered show. It is based off the idea of the Covered blog, which has artists of all genres re-making comic covers of any kind in their own style. I posted yesterday about re-imagining Gotham Girls No. 3 with Harley Quinn on the cover. Here it is the final product.
 Harley Bunn - Click for larger view
Tomorrow night is your last night to catch the Zombie Art Show at Green Brain Comics in Dearborn. They are also having some special new releases, sales, and extended hours. You can read more about it here.
Starting January 9th they are hanging a new show called Covered that I’ll also be participating in. The concept is that all the artists in the show are re-imagining existing comic book covers. I’m doing Gotham Girls Issue 3, which has the lovely Miss Harley Quinn on the cover. Naturally, it is a Puff Bun version. I’m working on it as I type this, and it should be done by tomorrow for me to post here. There are quite a few wonderful artists that will also be in the show, including Kill Taupe, Sean Bieri, Bryan Durren, and Chris Houghton. I’m very excited to see what everyone brings to the table. The 2010 Metro Detroit art scene is off to a kickass start.
And before I forget… Happy Holidays and especially happy New Year, everybody!
You can now find handmade products made by me at the Royal Oak gallery 323East. Don’t live anywhere near Metro Detroit (or just don’t feel like going out)? Have no fear! You can also purchase my jewelry online from their website. In store I have Puff Bun™ magnets, Bun Skull earrings, and skull earrings. Right now you can only find the earrings online. Click on the images below to purchase them online.
 
 My table for Noel Night 2009 Well, the 37th Annual Noel Night in Midtown Detroit has come and gone now. I busted my butt on it this year, and it paid off. I had a spot right off the elevator on the second floor. This year I tried my hand at jewelry-making with my lowbrow pop twist. It was a lot of fun and the results went over very well with the crowd. My sales were above and beyond what I expected. I want to thank everyone who supported me and others like me by buying from local artists.
So far in my career, Noel Night has been my only foray into craft shows and showing my art outside of a gallery show. Over the years it has allowed me to grow as a business-person as an artist and now I feel very confident in the product I make. I feel confident that I can not only make a quality product, but that there is a legitimate interest in it. I have to give a big personal thanks to Noel Night and the folks who put it on (looking at you, Dave Chow). This year has given me the tools I need to make the next step in selling my art on a larger scale.
 Some of the items I had for sale. I started work on an Etsy shop yesterday. I’ll keep you posted when it goes live with product. It might be held off a little longer since 323east wants to have some of my handmade stuff in their store. They are getting most of my merchandise that is left over from Noel Night. I’ll be working on more stuff immediately, though.
As soon as my products are for sale online, no matter where, I’ll post it here. If you aren’t interested in waiting please feel free to contact me: hhansma@yahoo.com.
Happy Holidays, everyone.
Google Alerts kindly alerted me to an article written by my friend Jeff Nolan two weeks ago for his column “The Nolan Factor” on MotorCityBlog.net. I don’t know how I missed this, but Jeff gave my Bunderland show a shoutout.
If you examine the walls and shelves carefully you will see a small painting of yours truly in bunny form, complete with sunglasses at night and my name in huge letters as a backdrop. -Jeff Nolan
Of course he makes sure his readers view the bunny-portrait I made of him. I can’t blame him, though. It actually came out pretty sweet.
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