It’s about 11 p.m. She is pouring me a glass of white wine into a stemless wine glass as I prepare my paper and pen for notes. Hannah Griffin, a friend of mine for a while now and an amazing artist, has invited me into her home for my first ever interview as an aspiring journalist.

I am fumbling through papers in her Atlanta condo, sitting in the dining room which opens up into her in-home studio. She sets the full glass of wine down in front of me and effortlessly continues painting as I search for my first question.

Her studio is chic, organized, and mostly white, except for one wall- the wall on which she hoists her in-progress paintings. It is covered in multi-colored brush strokes from previous paintings, and in front is an old wooden table covered in supplies- a giant water pitcher full of murky paint water, huge paintbrushes sticking out of another giant pitcher, arranged like an artist’s bouquet of work flowers, squeezed and scattered tubes of paint and giant trays of freshly squeezed acrylic in every color imaginable.

Her starch white cat, Noah, jumps into her lap and gives her a nudge while she is stroking on a bright purple painted canvas. He’s as white as the brand new canvases she bought earlier that day.

PB: Is it going to distract you if I am asking you questions while you paint?
HG: No, not at all. I love it. Ask away.

PB: What is the first piece of art you remember creating…ever?
HG: My memory is really bad. Um, probably the first thing…well, I’ve always painted and loved art ever since I first picked up a crayon. The first time I ever thought I might want to be an artist was when I took a Bob Ross painting class. I was seven. Those were my first formal painting lessons.

PB: Where did you take those classes?
HG: (laughs) Mt. Zion, at this little old lady’s house that got certified in Bob Ross painting. It was a three-hour class and we would complete one painting her class.

PB: How many times did you take her class?
HG: Oh, at least thirty.

PB: What did you do with all those paintings? Are they at your parent’s house still?
HG: Well, I sold some of them when I was younger…just to like family and friends and stuff, you know? I didn’t sell them for much. I loved those classes. I really did learn a lot from them.

PB: What piece of art are you most proud of?
HG: Can it be like bodies of work? Probably my senior show in college, and some other portraits I have done.

PB: Which portraits?
HG: The one I did of Amanda Stewart. I know you’ve seen that one. The William’s Family, the Marshall Family. Oh, and the Black Girl portrait. That was one of my first portraits I painted. I painted it in high school. It’s the one hanging in the living room in there *points with a paintbrush toward the living room*.

PB: Oh, yeah, you still have it. Has anyone tried to buy it from you?
HG: Oh yeah (laughs) it’s not for sale. It’s like, the only one that’s not.

PB: Who is your favorite artist?
HG: *with zero hesitation* Steve Penley. He is who first encouraged me to pursue my passion for painting. He’s just an awesome artist, you know?

PB: Where do you see yourself in ten years?
HG: Hopefully painting full-time with an out of home studio…something communal, or my own studio space somewhere. But, yeah, painting full-time. That’s really always been the goal.

PB: What’s your most important tool?
HG: My hands. By far. I was just telling Skylar this the other day, like what if something happened to my left hand? I mean, that’s my biggest fear. That’s what I used to do what I love.

PB: How would you describe your aesthetic?
HG: I like to paint realistic things, mainly photographs, with an abstract twist, I guess, or abstracted? I don’t know how you word that *laughs*. Does that make sense? Oh, here’s a good way to describe it…I like the viewer to be able to tell it's painted on a canvas and not a photograph.

PB: You mentioned earlier you feared to lose your hands. Any other fears?
HG: Well, there’s always the fear of people judging your work and fear of failure and not making it. But, that’s just part of being an artist. *she pauses* I got so many canvases today, I am so excited. You know, when I got out of college, I wanted to make art that meant nothing. I was tired of the research involved with every little thing I had to produce in school, and I just wanted to make effortless work. And I did for a while. But now I know things need to have to mean. That’s what I’ve been doing with my new farm series. It has to mean to me and I think that is more translatable to the viewer.

Check out Hannah Griffin Art