Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Hayes.
Hi Andrew, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
For as long as I can remember, my life has been centered around art. As the son of an artist, my apprenticeship began in my earliest memories, and early on, I was hooked. It was magic to me. I loved showing off how I could take a blank page and through some high-level alchemy change its form into something new, something special.
As I grew, however, I was conditioned to believe that my special magic had no value. The harder I looked, the less value I saw. As a result, I told myself that I; destined for bigger things, could never be an artist. And after coming to this conclusion, I continued to practice sparingly but only saw creativity as an outlet and not a potential career.
Eventually, I went to college to study music at the University of Miami which had been a dream of mine since I was 12 years old (except then I wanted to be a surgeon). Here, I was presented with an ultimatum, “Art isn’t something you do for fun, if you can see yourself doing anything else, leave and do that.” Stubbornly, I stayed and made the best decision of my life. It was later that year I began to paint seriously.
In college, I found it easy to express myself in clothing because no one else was doing it. I also loved the feeling of having a fresh designer look to wear to class, especially because I was the designer and of course the praise that came along with it. It astonished me that so many people were interested in the work I did on the floor of my dorm room during my time off.
It was 3.5 years of learning and product testing that inadvertently led me to my calling as well as a screeching halt to my momentum. Upon graduation, I was forced to make a decision, chase my dream of creativity or abandon it for the stability of a job and the real world. Unceremoniously, I chose the latter, a decision that would teach me a lot, and through many challenges, heartbreak and disease encouraged me to choose myself in the future.
In 2016, nearly 10 years after beginning this journey and after 6 of inactivity I was miserable at work and feeling empty. It was at this point that I had to take some time for sincere self-reflection. It was then I asked myself, “what have I always done? what would I do for no money?” I remembered the ultimatum and decided then that I had to give my art a legitimate shot, so I jumped.
I began to take steps every night to prove to myself most importantly that I could be an artist. I watched youtube, I painted on shoes, jackets, purses, wood panels, basically anything that I could to show myself if given the chance I wouldn’t give up. During this time, I realized something, I had always been an artist. Not because someone or group bestowed the title upon me but because I was making an actual sincere effort to be myself and do what I wanted most. Like Nike’s slogan, I was “Just Doing It.”
At this point, after some prompting from my mom I asked myself “What am I trying to say? How do I want my art to impact the world?” My decision, I wanted my art to do for others what it had done for me, and in an odd sense of serendipity I came upon a message I wrote in college that said: “Be You.” This was it! The message I was looking for, was the answer to my prayers. And to think I had unknowingly written it myself so many years prior.
Since that day, I have been following this message and delivering it to others through my artwork and outreach. Today I live my dream. I am lucky enough to have the chance to work full-time as an artist limited only to my own imagination. I have created everything from commercial-scale murals to songs illustrating my own experience and everything in between.
In the last six months alone, I have had the pleasure of painting seven murals, and 3 art shows. participating in a number of festivals, and even teaching art classes to those seeking their own freedom. Chasing my dream so far has been the most rewarding adventure and I look forward to following it further in the paradise that is Miami.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In a word, no. It has in fact been a rewarding one. As with any passion project, I have had to “put my money where my mouth is” so to speak, and executing that is a lot harder than it seems. While I do mean physical money I also mean building credibility through consistency and availability.
When I decided that I was going to go back to the act that made me happiest in college, my first challenge was my own ego. In this world of instant gratification, there is so much competition and an aversion to working hard and being patient. Naturally, I am not a patient person.
While I never questioned my talent, it was very difficult to go from a nobody to someone trusted. My best advice is consistency.
Much like the ultimatum in my college class, I realized the only time success comes before work is in the dictionary. In order to pass this hurdle I had to keep myself busy, I gave myself projects and shared them as often as I could. The easiest of which was restoring and customizing sneakers because I could breathe new life into something old and beaten.
Many times however I did not receive the appreciation and adulation I thought I deserved, which taught me not to work for validation. When I wanted to give up, I reminded myself how I wanted to be in control of my time helping to push me forward. Soon friends started giving me projects which gave me the confidence to provide them with more content.
At some point, I realized I had to meet people, and in a pre covid society that wasn’t impossible but difficult for someone with a dream and a little direction how would I accomplish this task and continue to improve technically. My answer was to get involved in festivals and live events where I could improve my reach. As soon as I was comfortable doing this however the world shut down and it was 2 years before we could get back outside.
Once again I had to pivot.
It was during this time that I decided I needed a bigger canvas. But who would let a sneaker artist paint their walls, they are vastly different mediums. Again I had to meet people who would help me along the way to get the message out but with the added challenge of a changing contactless world. I submitted my portfolio at least 20 times with 20 rejections before I was given my first opportunity.
In a subjective world like art, you have to get used to rejection. I compare it to walking around naked open to critique from everyone, especially those who lack the courage to do it themselves. If you are passionate and determined enough to not take no for an answer, however, then nothing is impossible.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work is based on freedom. I believe that people live happier more fulfilled lives when they are free to be themselves, so above all other things “Be You.”
My paintings are self-reflections. It is my hope that there is something for everyone in my artwork, from the kids in awe of the future to adults who are looking to escape to a simpler more nostalgic time. My goal for my style is to range, from whimsical and cute to thought-provoking and detailed. I want to leave the world a more beautiful place than I found it and art allows me to accomplish this goal freely.
For that reason, I decided that the balloon would be the best way for me to visually express my desire for freedom in all that I do. I like to paint faces on the balloons to give a better understanding of the emotions of the piece or just to be polarizing. Early on in my career, I was known for painting on clothing, then sneakers, then canvas, now currently as a muralist, and yet still all of those things at once.
It is that kind of range and courage to try anything that really sums up my whole identity as an artist. I want to be not just great at one thing, but good at so many that you have to decide what is keeping you from at least trying to be the thing you want to be most.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk-taking is everything.
If you are afraid to be uncomfortable it is likely your growth will be forever stunted. I believe that the only way to move forward with anything in life is to do exactly what makes you afraid and uncomfortable. But that is hard to accomplish and even more so at times, harder to identify and incredibly overwhelming.
I’ve found that the easiest way to overcome this hurdle however is to take it slowly. There is a riddle I use for myself whenever I am overwhelmed that helps me not be so hard on myself. “How do you eat an elephant?” “How?” “One bite at a time.” This little riddle is a mantra for me, it helps to avoid getting stuck in “paralysis by analysis.” While I personally like to take my challenges head-on and can seem fearless at times to the outside world, I have practiced this mantra incessantly.
I don’t view myself as a fearless person at all, in fact, I am full of fear but I am also courageous. For example, if I had thought of all the things I would need to build a small business based on art when I began this journey in 2007, instead of just following my need to paint I’d STILL be thinking. I love to jump in with both feet and figure the rest out as I go that way I don’t waste any time.
As a kid, my mom must have seen this character trait because her message to me was always “Hurry up and fail” (While she didn’t always say it that way). That message alone taught me to fall and get up as many times as it takes to succeed. I’ve also been very lucky to have support from the people around me.
One, in particular, told me after I was fired the second time in the same year (once on my birthday) that I needed to get off my butt and continue to do what I had been doing after work, full time. For that, I am truly humbled and thankful that they saw something in me that I wasn’t able to see myself.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: WWW.THEHAYZEBRAND.COM
- Instagram: @thehayzebrand
- Facebook: @thehayzebrand
- Twitter: @thehayzebrand
- Youtube: The Hayze Brand tv
Image Credits
Headshot photographed by Anita Kurzyna
