"Dandelion Dawn" Origins

Hey there,

If you've been checking out my Youtube channel lately, you've probably noticed that I do a regular "Speedy Art" video each week. I LOVE doing these, because I'm creating anyway, and it's not hard to film, and when I'm finished I love seeing the whole creation process unfold in a few minutes before my eyes. It's both magical and thrilling to me.

This particular speedy art piece is pretty significant to me. It's based off of memories from my childhood of my childhood best friend. I grew up in a charming little country town and my best friend and I used to love driving out away from the city and laying on the hood of her car to look up at the incredible vista of stars above. We would lay there for hours talking about everything going on in our lives.

When I saw the magazine picture I used for this piece, it instantly reminded me of my best friend and those long conversations. I decided to change the scene however, from us laying on the hood of her car to us laying in a field of dandelions. The reason I changed it wasn't just because dandelions are more fun to paint and prettier to look at than the headlights of a car. I changed it because when we were kids, my best friend and I LOVED to listen to the Beatles. She got me hooked, and they are the soundtrack of my childhood--particularly my summers. After my parent's divorced and moved away from our home town, I went back to visit my friend the summer after. We had this one incredibly perfect day of hiking and exploring all our old haunts and just being together. We even slept out on the trampoline like we always used to do as kids. It was also the day my friend told me that every time she heard the song "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles, she always thought of me. I remember being so touched by the fact that such a happy, hopeful song caused her to think of me. That day was one of the best days I've ever had--not because we did anything remarkable, but because we did a lot of familiar and unremarkable things that served as a balm during one of the most difficult times of my life.

So that's the inspiration behind Dandelion Dawn. That's why I switched out the headlights for dandelions, and that's also why the sun is just starting to peek up over the horizon. Now, every time I look at it, I get to think of my childhood best friend and all of the memories we shared growing up, particularly that unremarkable yet perfect day.

I love how one painting can represent so much.

Lot's of Love,

Hannie

P.S. I also chose the Mozart piece for this video because she was also the one who first introduced me to Jane Austen, and for some reason, Mozart reminds me of Austen novels. Probably because they're always playing Mozart era music in Austen movies. ;-)