Interview with Tanager Haemmerle

As you may have heard, my good friend Tanager is completing Mab Graves Drawlloween 2018 and I'm going to write an awesome series of stories based off of the art!

You already know about me, but what about the artist? Below is a series of questions I put to her in the hopes that we can all learn a little more about her artistic mind!

Why did you choose the name Indiscriminate Art?
I decided to go with that name because I still don’t really know who I am, and so much of my artwork has no consistent style for the most part. Even in just my illustration, if you look at all my “Alice in Wonderland” drawings, you would probably not know they were all made by the same person!:-)

Have you always been creative?
Yep! Definitely!
 
How long have you been creating art with intent?
Through most of college I didn’t really understand what it meant to create artwork with more than just a surface-level meaning. I think I started to understand in college, but my ideas of intent behind my art were still pretty vague. And even after college I just drew whatever came to me, and afterwards I would look at it and realize what it meant and why I’d done it. I can do it on purpose now, and I have good ideas for things, but it’s a lot harder to draw when you plan something!
 
Advice for other creative types?
Get yourself some creative friends to help you through your slumps!
 
Inspired by other artists/writers/etc?
Mostly my friends (like FastOrWrite and WoodWireGlass)!

I really love some popular artists at the more eccentric galleries, too. Surreal, modern works with an edge of darkness, like stuff you see in High Fructose. Also quirky fun things like Tim Burton’s sketches!

I love YA books like Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Raven Boys, and sci-fi or fantasy books like Song of Ice and Fire, Fahrenheit 451, also Don Quixote, and anything by Jack London or Poe! Lord of the Rings is probably still my favorite story.
 
Favorite genre/subject?
Probably not a surprising answer, but anything science fiction or fantasy themed. For illustration I like robots, witches, “Alice in Wonderland”, mechanic girls, merpeople.

And in my fine art I like to explore the hard truths we all encounter as we grow up. The things that made us grow up. I love drawing little girls facing the monsters under the bed.

In writing I mostly just like sci-fi that is relatable to current issues.
 
Other artistic endeavors?
Fine art, writing, and I consider my Egglets (wooden owls) to be their own separate entity. I also occasionally make art dolls.

You’re also a writer, correct? Talk about your work.
Illustration and fine art are both close friends of mine, but I think writing is my true love.  My dream is to someday have a literary agent and get published. I mostly like writing YA sci-fi. I’ve been working on the same novel for a long time now, fixing it up as I continue learning how to write/edit. This sounds really silly and weird, but if just one stranger loved my story enough to draw fanart of my characters-- so these characters could live on outside of me-- I would be so happy.
 
What are you working on now, art and writing?
Mab Graves’ #Drawlloween with my friend Tasha (you, haha!). Also making some new Egglets (the wooden owls I make with whatever crazy themes people come up with). I’m working on a dragon one right now! And waiting to hear back on my new ending to my YA sci-fi novel.
 
How many years have you done Drawlloween?
I’m actually not sure how many times I started it. Last year was the first year I was consistent with it. I still didn’t finish though! This year I have to! I’m doing everything in ink and marker, but I’m doing Mab Graves’#Drawlloween list instead!
 
Are you excited/scared this year? Why?
I was scared because I have to finish! I’m not as scared now though because I cheated and started early, hehe! I’m excited to see what Fast or Write comes up with based on the prompts!
 
Have you ever/will you ever write stories based on your art?
I feel like art and writing are different sides of me, with different stories to tell. And when the art part of me is active, the writing part shuts down, and vice versa.  Same goes for illustration and fine art, and event he Egglets. They all seem to exist separately and use different parts of my brain.

I actually do want to come up with some sort of story (maybe a Picture Book) to go along with my Mechanic Girls and their robots though.
I sometimes draw my characters, but never the other way around. Also, why would I need to when I have you?!

Do you have a creative process or schedule?
 I’m either working on nine things at once, or nothing at all. There’s no in-between!
 
Same for writing?
I work on my writing pretty consistently because I have a writing group, that, for the most part, is pretty regular about meeting. I’m at the HURRY UP AND WAIT part of it right now though, which is torture!
 
What are your plans for your work in the future?
#1 goal is to get published! I put most of my energy into improving my writing. The characters from my current book mean so much to me. And I would love to share them.

#2 goal is—I might have already said this—to have someone like my characters enough to draw a fanart of them! Hehe.
I’d also like to make some prints and try to sell them, and get the mermaid card game I illustrated out into the world!
 
Talk about the Egglets and games you create.
I love to make Egglets! They are wooden eggs I hand paint with watercolors or acrylics to look like little owlets (thus the name, haha!). But they aren’t JUST owls. I make them to whatever theme, character, or creature is requested (bee keeper owl, bee owl, unicorn owl, leprechaun owl, peacock owl, Tin Man, Luna Lovegood, big foot, zombie. Etc!).

I also create custom wedding portraits and cake toppers.

People can PM me on Fairies And Finds to ask about commissions. I’ve been on hiatus due to health reasons, but I’d really like to get back to them now! People come up with the most fun ideas! It’s always a challenge!

I did the illustrations for MERMAID TAILS THE CARD GAME. It’s a quick fun game for kids ages 4-12. My business partner and I are still trying to come up with a game plan for the game, so there isn’t a lot of info for it posted online, but it has play tested really well, and until we figure out our shop, for right now individual copies can be purchased through PM (I will then put a copy up on Etsy!).

Anything else we should know about you? Anything you want to tell others?
I am pretty good at handstands! My cat is my life. And what do I want to tell others? I want people to not be afraid to care about things. Everyone should stand for something. Anything. And don’t just stand for it. If it’s important, don’t just stand for it. Jump and stomp for it, too! Fight for it!
 
Where can people find your work?
Good question, haha. I haven’t been that regular with updating any of my pages, but I do tend to update my Facebook page Fairies And Finds with my own fluffy work more often than any other page. I intend to eventually update it with the rest of my old illustration. Indiscriminate Art has my fine art, and my darker side!:-)
 
Thanks for the questions!