Q&A: Questions & Artists – Roxanne Hanney

“Nature’s First Green is Gold” by Roxanne Hanney.

I first met Roxanne Hanney this past summer at a James Hempel workshop held in Sturgeon Bay. It was a learning experience for me but during the workshop I watched Roxanne work and admired her results. I asked her if she would, as a local Door County artist, be interested in being interviewed for the Pulse. This interview was conducted at Glas Coffeehouse in Sturgeon Bay. Roxanne lives with her retired firefighter and EMT husband Rick just north of Sturgeon Bay. Her work has been juried into multiple shows both in Wisconsin and Florida.

Randy Rasmussen (RR): Roxanne, where were you born and raised?

Roxanne Hanney (RH): I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I attended school and am a graduate of the Milwaukee public school system.

RR: If you recall the first time we talked, you told me of your lifetime interest in art. Would you tell the readers some of your first memories of being creative?

RH: I have loved art all my life. One of my earliest memories is my parents buying me a drawing table. I was ecstatic with the table and one memory is being fascinated with a building in Milwaukee that was a beautiful silhouette in the western sky in the evening. I painted the scene over and over. I am grateful to my parents for raising me in a wonderful environment. Another memory as a child is trips to the Art Institute in Chicago.

“Golden Slumber” by Roxanne Hanney.

RR: Where did you attend college?

RH: I attended and graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. I ultimately received a Ph.D. in French. I was fortunate to be able to spend a year in Paris as a Fulbright Scholar.

RR: After living in Paris did you become influenced by the French impressionists?

RH: Absolutely, and also I became influenced by the post-impressionists.

RR: Then you had to make a living?

RH: I left my art for a short time for a career in education. As my education career began in Milwaukee, I began taking night classes at MIAD (Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design).

I took myriad of classes in multiple mediums all to satisfy my quest to learn. Even as a principal I would sit at meetings, listening, talking, and at the same time doing caricatures.

RR: How did you and your husband Rick end up in Door County?

RH: Living in Milwaukee we ended up coming to Door County and thought it would be a wonderful place to retire. As our lives moved along we started our retirement home just north of Sturgeon Bay and this is where we live.

RR: I know you now paint in oil and continue to work in pastels. How did you choose these two mediums?

“Winter Solstice” by Roxanne Hanney.

RH: As a child in grade school I remember walking past the art room and seeing a three-tiered display of every color one could imagine. It was captivating for a young child. It was my first medium. I met well-known Milwaukee artist Jim Hempel and during our lessons he recommended I try oils. I still study with Jim usually two times per month. My work continues to evolve. Jim told me “a definition of making progress in painting is moving from frustration to frustration with enthusiasm.”

RR: That describes the process. Describe what you enjoy painting.

RH: I really enjoy doing animal portraits, landscapes and floral. My work is representational but not photorealistic.

RR: Can you explain that?

RH: I am guided at first glance by the abstract underpinnings of the subject. I see the abstraction, essentially the shapes of what I am painting.

RR: When you paint do you use the technique of some painters – doing your work upside down?

RH: Sometimes I do. It lets me concentrate on shapes, values and color without thinking about the object I am painting.

“Spring Filly” by Roxanne Hanney.

RR: What is the greatest value in having a mentor like Jim Hempel?

RH: Jim has a way of gently pushing me out of my comfort zone.

RR: What do you think is the future of fine art? In this changing technological world is there a place for creativity?

RH: I am sure that fine art will always be with us. There has been in the past, and I think, will be in the future, a segment of the population that enjoys the work of the traditional artist.

RR: Thank you.

Roxanne Hanney’s paintings can be seen locally at Sister Bay Trading Company and Champeau’s Pioneer Gallery, both located in Sister Bay.