We recently had the chance to connect with Brett Hall and have shared our conversation below.
Brett , so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What is a normal day like for you right now?
Is there such a thing as normal? Sure, I get up, have breakfast, read the comics and on Sundays we read the paper from end to end. But with all the chaos in the world and in our own country it seems there is no normalcy to be had. The news is overwhelming both here and abroad. It’s hard to accept this as “normal” but here we are… a new normal.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I went to Colorado Institute of Art for two years and then began my career working for newspapers, magazines, ad agencies, and check printers as well as selling to Office Depot and Staples. I earned 71,465 miles from the United Mileage Plus Program flying all over the country making calls on customers. I retired in 2020 after 46 years and began painting and traveling to Art Festivals around the country.
I can’t remember when I decided to be an artist. I always knew I would. After High School, I went to Colorado Institute of Art based on the advice “If you’re going to be an artist and you want to eat you need to find a steady job.” I completed the course in commercial art and began a career in design and illustration. During this career, I went to work for a native-owned firm and had an opportunity to work with a number of indigenous clients. It was an eye-opening experience. I met some amazing people on remote, off-the-grid reservations as well as tribal officers. I learned much about their culture and customs. I began painting on the side and exhibited my work at outdoor festivals around the country. At one of these early shows the curator came by and said “Your work looks good but you’re all over the map. You need to focus because if you do everything, people will remember nothing”. I took this advice to heart and decided to focus on portraits of indigenous peoples from the 1800’s. I focus on this subject matter to shed some light on the dark history. I have a couple of mantras that I follow. One is that “art should disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed.” I would like to think my portraits might disturb those who would like to forget and comfort those who remember. The other is “to give a voice to those who have been silenced, to give eyes to those who don’t see, and to give a heart to those who just don’t want to care.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Well my mother told me to be a priest but that wasn’t going to happen. I knew from kindergarten I was going to be an artist…graphic art, advertising, print and, finally, painting.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Never. I never gave up. I had to get back up a few times but I never gave up.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
These days it would be my historically accurate paintings of indigenous peoples of the 1800s. And, of course, my patient, level-headed wife of 51 years
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
Not a thing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brettghallart@icloud.com
- Other: phone: 713-557-2954, email: brettghall@icloud.com
Image Credits
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