Hazel McNab & 366 Hearts

 Hi I'm Hazel and I love patterns, shadows, reflections, interconnecting lines, I love the challenge of capturing what's in my head and getting it down onto paper. Linocut works well for my style, it's exciting seeing the building up of layers and getting to the end result.

The 366 Hearts story

It was 2011. I was living in a rented farmhouse in Shropshire with my 3 teenagers, 2 dogs, 2 cats and 6 chickens. I was going through divorce and the family home had been sold. My world was upside down. I was pretending to be ok.

Something on facebook caught my attention, ' do something creative for 30 days.'I saw a way of putting magic back into my life. I chose to make a blog ' Inspiration returned' it felt like I'd made myself accountable to the world. At the end of each day for the next 29 days I let myself go creatively crazy, following pattern and colour wherever they led me. It was my own personal adventure, it reminded me of who I was.

I enjoyed it so much I wanted to set a longer challenge of doing something everyday for a year.

After dismissing lots of ideas I decided on the idea of painting a heart a day and adding an inspiring quote. It was a Leap Year so I called my project 366 Hearts 

I began on Valentine's Day ( seemed appropriate for hearts) 2012.

Searching within myself for the courage I needed to face each day I added an inspiring quote and sent them out via the internet to whoever would like to share my journey. Really learning that small steps forward can make a difference. At then end of the year I did this ...

I learnt how important it was for me to sit at the end of the day and think about how I felt, and what I needed to tell myself to face the next day. Some days painting my heart was my life saver, it was important for me to know that I'd accomplished at least one thing that day that I'd said I would do.

I set myself a new goal of 1000 and then I painted 2000 altogether. When my blog posts stopped going out they were missed and I was asked to repost them from the beginning so I did, you can sign up and follow them here 366 Hearts

If you want to see all 2000 have a look at my pinterest page

For a really special present why not consider a 'Commissioned heart' go and see what other people have already said about theirs. 

Having a background in Fashion & Textiles I love pattern, colour and shapes. I love seeing everyday things in different ways and capturing them on Instagram.

Any heart can be available as a giclee print. Prices starting at £10 just let me know if one catches your eye, send me an email to hazelbmcn@gmail.com

Best wishes Hazel xx