Today we’d like to introduce you to Hailey Sullivan.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
For as long as I can remember, drawing has always been a part of me. I recall being told I would always fall asleep with a crayon in my hand as a kid. Something I was known for. In high school, any art classes I took were what I looked forward to and the highlight of my day. Although very quiet and shy, my classmates recognized me as the “artist.” I like to think that’s how my nickname was born. Along with drawing, my passion for animals, especially horses, tied in well. I grew up with them and that is where I got a lot of my inspiration from. I think having my barn family helped structuralized me into who I am today.
Going into college, I had to leave that part of my life. However, my art stayed with me. I’m originally from Southern Wisconsin so I attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2015 for a Bachelor’s Degree in Art & Design. After only going for one year, I began to realize the entire idea of “schooling” and getting a degree for a 9-5 job wasn’t for me. I thought maybe I just didn’t want to have an art related career anymore because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with it specifically. I didn’t know if it was just because of the lack of connection with my professors and peers lead me to not love my passion anymore, or if I just wasn’t disciplining myself during that time. Going into my second year, the same way I did going into college as a whole, I still utterly followed in everyone else’s footsteps including my older siblings. From the beginning, I continued to have this feeling that I wasn’t listening to my true calling. I had a brief phone call with my sister one day about life and where I wanted to go. Because I still had my passion for animals, I thought I’d try a completely divergent path. That’s where I decided to try going to school to be a veterinary technician. It helped immensely that she had already lived on a farm and the college I aimed for was only 30 minutes away. Right after that phone call ended, ultimately I felt that spark of positivity and confidence. But still, at the same time, I didn’t know if I had just made a mistake or lifted a weight off my shoulders. From then on and having that short experience living with my sister, however, I will take with me for the rest of my life. This is because, after a couple of months of general classes for vet tech and farm life, I had yet come to another crossroads.
In the summer of 2017, I had a group of friends, some of which were out here in San Diego. I had come to visit them and never have to visit the city before, I fell in love with it. The timing was right for me to basically drop everything I thought I knew and start over. It was a longshot but something about it felt right. My sister gave me the most validating advice. Literally to just do it. Short but powerful and right to the point. Before long, I felt I didn’t have anything to lose and the timing couldn’t have been more appropriate. That Fall, the little Wisconsinite really just packed up her car and drove from her hometown of Belleville, Wisconsin to San Diego.
Since arriving, I began my search for just any job really to afford to survive out here. Every place I applied for either turned me down or I didn’t get a response at all. A couple of months went by and I finally had gotten a call from Mary’s Tack & Feed in Del Mar. I don’t know if it was coincidence or luck, but, at the same time I was hired on the spot, I had been approved for an apartment the same day that was only 15 minutes South. I’ve put in about a year and a half there while working on my drawings. I cannot even begin to express how amazing it was to realize how many doors had opened just by being able to work here. As early as my first week, I was introduced to horsemen I have admired over social media that I didn’t even think I would ever meet. My career had begun to flourish at a speed I wouldn’t have gotten back home. I could not have gotten a more perfect job due to how perfect it is to make connections. On top of that, I can safely say I know I’ve met my friends for life. No, didn’t meet them in college like everyone says you do. Just work! Sometimes, I catch myself reflecting on the journey and how lucky I feel. It makes me feel so accomplished to compare how far I have come but also the people I have met and befriended. I can now say I am a professional artist while still working part-time at Mary’s. Soon, I will be a full-time artist.
Has it been a smooth road?
Honestly, if any impediment, it was me. I have always been abnormally hard on myself and think I don’t push myself enough. I’m an over-thinker, worrier, and I lack confidence. I’ll tell myself I’m pushing myself as hard as I can when really I don’t think I am. Any decision I had to make sense making the move out here to San Diego, I constantly debated whether it was the right one or not. That’s where I thought it was a little ironic to make such a decision to move across the country with no plan whatsoever except for the fact that a voice in my head was telling me to. Before I left, I accustomed myself to have the mindset that it is absolutely alright if I completely failed and fell on my face. I created the plan to simply drive back home because I knew I had people back home supporting me no matter the outcome. This gave me a better outlook and slightly more confidence. That’s why I think it’s vital to respect and hear your peers/friends/family’s input or opinions, but that doesn’t mean you have to take it. The people that matter will never judge you or disown your thoughts or integrity. It is not their journey, only yours. There is no right time, it is now. It is okay to not always have a plan. It is okay to not have your answers. Eventually, you will get them and everything will fall into place. If it feels right, listen to that! You are never wrong when it comes to your happiness. I’ve learned so much about relationships with people in the last two years and they made me realize how much I’ve grown. Every single person you intersect with has a place in your plan whether you know it or not. The thing I cannot stress enough over anything, though, is that everything happens for a reason.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with HMS Fine Art – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I am known as an Equine Graphite Artist. I specialize in drawing horses but am also happy to draw pretty much any domestic animal. I love that I get to keep traditional black & white methods alive and create something extraordinary solely out of a pencil. Especially because in the art community there is an expeditious evolution of new and modern techniques involving bright, blooming colors. The thing that gets most people when they see my work is how realistic it is and then when telling them that I am self-taught. All of the free time I had when I was a kid, I devoted to drawing my passion so the term practice makes perfect actually is somewhat true.
I think the biggest accomplishment so far in my career was last April of 2018 when I drew Legolas 92 for Team USA including 4x Olympian Steffen Peters and owner Akiko Yamazaki, founder of Yahoo. Again, I had no idea they were based here in Southern California, so when I found out and was given the opportunity, I couldn’t believe it. I was even able to present it to them for Legolas’s retirement at the Del Mar National Horse Show here in Del Mar at the fairgrounds, also just a 5-minute drive from Mary’s.
I feel that what sets me apart is that I don’t know of many people my age that would have made a decision as dauntless as mine. Whenever I have caught up with old friends about life, they are usually kind of impressed that I did such a thing. I love to be able to say that I made a decision, stuck with it, and succeeded.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
I usually just listen to my music on my phone or laptop while I work. While drawing alone is my therapy session, I like to have my background noise to vibe with and get things done.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hmsfineart.com
- Phone: 6082192196
- Email: haileysullivan5@gmail.com
- Instagram: @hailey_sullivan_art
- Facebook: @hmsfineart
Image Credit:
Hailey Sullivan, Monica Biedes, Rhonda Ohnesorge
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