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For many artists, having time to step back and reflect can lead to great insight. For economics and business graduate John Hannafin ’00, back surgery allowed him to discover the artist within himself.
Hannafin blended his talents and created ArtPassionista.com, a Web-based company that offers quality prints of artists’ works onto textured canvas using a technique called giclée.
In 2001, while he was stuck in bed recuperating from back surgery, his mother bought him a set of paints. Although he’d been interested in art in general, “I started painting on canvas for the first time.” After he was able to return to work, he continued to develop his artistic abilities.
However, because of the slow economy, “I was laid off from my title insurance job and had the opportunity to think about what I really wanted to do with my life,” he says. “I wanted to combine my passion for art and creativity with my knowledge of business, and the result was ArtPassionista.”
He researched giclée, which involves translating images to canvas by spraying millions of micro-droplets of ink. “The result is a print of amazing quality and detail, which has the look and feel of an original painting at a fraction of the price,” he says. “Stretched around a wooden frame, these canvas prints cannot be differentiated from an original painting from just a few feet away. The quality is amazing.”
Once he had determined what he wanted to do, he gathered a like-minded group of artists from the New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston areas, and now represents them in the reproduction, marketing, and sales of their limited-edition works, online and through local restaurants, health clubs, salons, and gift boutiques.
“I found the artists both locally through word of mouth and also by posting bulletins on art web sites,” he explains. “I traveled the Northeast to introduce myself and interview them and spoke openly and honestly about what I envisioned. They are all genuinely good people, and with us all sharing the same burning spirit and passion for art, the relationships have flourished.”
Hannafin credits his years at Lafayette with providing him with the broad education “that I needed to be able to manage all facets of the business, from production to marketing, finances to public relations,” he says.
“[Grossman Gallery director] Jim Toia was one of my favorite [professors] in a few art classes I took,” he says. “[Economics and business] Professors [Thomas] Bruggink and [Rosie] Bukics also gave me a lot of knowledge for the financial side of my business.”
“It was an all-encompassing experience that developed me as a person, from the life-long friendships I’ve made to the solid yet well-rounded education that has granted a wealth of opportunity,” he adds. “So, in a single thought, I guess it’s the development of a person on all levels that means the most to me about Lafayette.”
Hannafin, who participates in the Big Brothers program in Boston, notes that his “little brother” is an award-winning poet “with a lot of emotion to write with after all he’s experienced in life. He writes beautiful poems which I’ve synchronized to my paintings in a short new online book that I just published to my website, along with many new paintings on my studio page…His heartfelt words possess a pure love in them that will make you feel really good inside.”