GET TO KNOW HANNAH
Hannah Eddy sees the world differently. One of her life goals is to bring more positivity into the world through the art she creates. Her fun colorful landscapes and expressive funky females feeling the flow on boards and wheels help remind us all to let our hair down and have a little fun. Her illustrative style and sunset pastel colors will make you smile, want to go outside, and feel stoked. That’s why we’re so happy to feature Hannah’s art on our new snow line, and to share some insights on Hannah and the reasons she does what she does.
How would you describe yourself?
I’m constantly inspired by being out in nature. I like to be moving and adventuring and seeing new things. My creative energy is what got me into snowboarding, skating, and art at a super early age. I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember—making little books and illustrating things all the time. I have a lot of creative outlets that I love exploring.
Where do you find inspiration for your work?
I find inspiration in nature. I love being out in it, and I love the colors, and lines and the energy out in nature. I like to bring it home when I come back.
You snowboard, skate, surf, mountain bike. Do you find any parallels between when you are riding and when you create art?
Definitely! It’s a mindset. It’s the flow state of being in the moment with a canvas, or in the moment with the snow, it’s totally the same. But without the risk of slamming and falling. It’s kind of nice to have something that I can do that’s a little easier on the body.
At the same time, I bet there can be a different kind of struggle with art.
I have those times where I’m like halfway through a painting—and I have talked to a lot of other artists about this—there is a period of a painting that ends up being good and there is a period where you just absolutely hate it. You’re like, what am I doing?! And then you kind of take a step back, work through that, and overcome the same sort of challenges that you have faced when snowboarding or skateboarding.
How would you describe your art to someone who can’t see it?
In my art, I use fun colors and a lighthearted illustrative style. Playful forms and lines create dreamy imaginative landscapes and there are often expressive characters flowing with nature. Basically, it’s all about fun, nothing too serious.
How does your lifestyle play into your artwork?
I simplify the things that cost a lot of money so I can constantly be pursuing passions. I have a lot of them, which I feel really lucky to have, so my art reflects that. I do a lot of digital work and I do a lot of pen and ink stuff that I can bring in our camper, or I can be out in Baja surfing and still doing watercolors. I don’t like to have huge studio spaces that suck me in for days. If I can do art on the road from anywhere, that makes me the happiest.
Where are some of your other favorite places to go find inspiration and why?
I love going to Baja. It’s like the Wild West, super fun waves. I mean, it’s super blown out, don’t go there, haha. No, it’s a really cool adventure. Out there is camping and surfing, and there is a lot of downtimes and I love desert landscapes too. It’s mountainous and you can see so far and so many layers of mountains, I love that. So, Baja is a big inspiration for me.
Tahoe is a really magical place to snowboard. There is a lot of great backcountry stuff and that’s really where I fell in love with backcountry snowboarding. I feel really lucky to be so close to these mountains because it’s where I would travel to if I needed to.
The Eastern Sierras! So down towards Mammoth … We decided on Reno [to live] because of the proximity to Tahoe and the Eastern Sierras, because there is a ton of great backcountry access and really cool big ‘ole mountains with cool stuff to explore.
Your love for landscapes, mountain ranges, and sunsets is shown in your artwork and seeing it come live on some of the Giro products is really exciting for everyone. Could you describe your process from start to finish?
Best case scenario: I would go and hike somewhere and sit down and take a moment in that place. I do a quick line drawing, just pen, and flow a super loose illustrative drawing. And then bring that back home.
Apart from that, I’ve been doing a lot of stuff on the computer where I incorporate those line drawings. I love the hand-drawn feel into a graphic. I like to keep a little sketchiness in the lines and not have it be too perfect if I am using the computer.
What about collabs?
For projects like Giro, when I know it has to get incorporated into a product, then I will use the computer as an aid to do that. If I am just painting, I’ll do that first, and then I love to use some sort of reclaimed wood to paint on, and I use a lot of thin acrylics and let it drip and flow, let the paint do its thing, and then come in with some bold lines.
I just love the lines of nature, and that meditative process of doing the lines is my favorite part. I do a wash of fun colors onto wood, and then go in there with the lines, and that's when I really get into it, and I get addicted to doing these lines. It’s like meditative, therapeutic.
Sometimes I get weirdly inspired while I’m doing a painting that I can’t wait for it to be done. And I have to slow myself down. That translates into my life too, I get super fired up on something and I like to see things through. So, I think of painting, as a way for me to see things through.
Because you never really “see anything through” when you are snowboarding, there is always the next hill to climb. But you are never “done”. With a painting you can be like, “I’m done with this painting.” That’s a human thing, we like to check things off the list.
That’s kind of why I got into baking. I’ve been baking on and off for a long time, as a profession. It’s the same sort of thing, you get really in the zone, you work with your hands, it’s creative, and then it’s done. You execute a thing and then people get to enjoy it.
What’s your reason for doing everything that you do?
My reason for doing everything I do is to promote positivity while just trying to have fun expressing myself. I also hope to encourage an appreciation and connection to nature. If we were all a little happier and doing the things we love, we would care more for each other and the planet, and I think that’s what it’s really all about.
If you happen to be in the Portland, OR area this Thursday, November 7th, 2019 join us at evo Portland for "SENSORY OVERLOAD" to say hi to Hannah Eddy in person, view her newest art, and check out the new Giro x Hannah Eddy product line.
What else?
There will be a screening of Airblaster USA 's new film PORB (Powder, Onsen, Ramen, Beer) featuring Austen Sweetin and Tim Eddy.
Do Radical's Cookbook, "Pow and Chow", will be available for sale with all sales benefiting POW (Protect Our Winers).
Complimentary beverages and raffle benefiting Snowdays Foundation and POW.