Meet Andrew Haener | Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew Haener and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’ve moved all over the U.S. but I grew up on the Gulf Coast right on the Louisiana-Texas border. There weren’t really many fine art museums around that I remember so a lot of my early experiences with visual art were either from video games, cartoons, or folk art at antique stores and family members’ homes – embroideries of chickens and farmhouses and that sort of thing. Eventually that aesthetic snuck its way into my drawing practice, especially after I left the South and moved out east. It’s a little nostalgic but it also represents the ordinary, egalitarian art forms from middle America that often get overlooked as junk or kitsch. That’s what art is for a lot of people though, and I think their ideas are just as valid and interesting as the academic stuff. I’ve spent most of my life around farmers and warehouse workers and blue collar types and I’d love to see the art and design world take them more seriously and include them in the conversation.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve put a lot of time and energy into elevating ordinary people’s stories and experiences to a place of pride and visibility. Sometimes that’s through hyperbole or magical reinterpretation, but little moments of human connection and wonder which are so easily forgotten are what my work exemplifies the best. I want to know what janitors did on their way to work and what gas station attendants are looking forward to on their lunch breaks. All those little seemingly unremarkable slices of life can communicate something beautiful and I live for those moments when I get to connect with them.

I worked jobs like that for years before I went back to college in my mid-twenties and a lot of my early adulthood was pretty drab and directionless. The little humdrum things became much more important to me. In lieu of a stable career, any brief moment of meaningful human connection became a valuable commodity in my life. Once I discovered illustration and finally started pursuing it seriously, that interest stayed put, especially in recent years as I’ve tried to put more of myself and my own personal experiences into my work.

So I took the long way around in getting here and it was mostly kind of awful. I didn’t know illustration was an actual job that existed until pretty late in the game. But I’m grateful for those quiet, boring years and all the people they brought into my life. That’s really given my work a sense of purpose and kept me grounded as an artist.

If there’s one thing I’d like to tell people based on all the places I’ve been, it’s to slow down and pay attention to the little moments in your life. Maybe that sounds kind of lame or like I’m hyping mindfulness or something, but I mean it. Imagine if every person took every interaction or conversation just as seriously as the next, or valued every store clerk as much as they did anyone else. I think that sort of thinking could do us all a lot of good.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
So I’ve lived in Baltimore, Maryland for the last few years and I really love it here. If anybody’s spending a week in the city here’s how to do it:

Monday: Bagels and coffee at OneDo Coffee in Canton, walk around Fell’s Point by the water, tofu brah at Ekiben for lunch, Hit the National Aquarium in the Inner Harbor in the afternoon, and head back to AmperSea for dinner and some drinks.

Tuesday: Head up to Hampden for coffee and vegan breakfast tacos at Golden West Cafe, check out Atomic Books down the street for indie comics and niche books, maybe explore around and check out some of the neighborhood’s secondhand shops. Grab a beer or two at Nepenthe Brewing (they’ve got some killer fried green tomatoes too). Maybe check out the skatepark or grab a coconut ice cream at the Charmery.

Wednesday: Coffee and vegan baked goods at Baby’s On Fire in Mt. Vernon. It’s a cool little spot with outside seating where you can watch people’s boxing lessons in the parking lot nearby if you’re a creep like me. They also have really great vegan mac and cheeses that they rotate every day. Walk around downtown and check out some of the independent art galleries or the Walters Art Museum. Grab lunch at Dooby’s and eat in the park next to the monument. Maybe grab some cocktails at Sugarvale or wine outside at Mt. Vernon Spirits to close out the day.

Thursday: Start with coffee at 3 Bean in Federal Hill and spend the morning dog watching in the park across the street. Afterwards check out the Visionary Art Museum for some of the coolest Outsider and Folk Art anywhere. Afterwards, stroll on over to Protean Books to scavenge for interesting secondhand stuff. If you’re there late enough, Fed Hill’s got no shortage of bars and clubs, so depending on how lively you’re feeling, go shotgun a Natty Boh somewhere on Charles Street.

Friday: Head over to Charles Village for coffee and breakfast at Bird In Hand Cafe. Second as a bookstore too so stick around and peruse the shelves for a while. Afterwards, hit the Baltimore Museum of Art, which usually has great special exhibitions. Grab lunch at Busboys and Poets and spend the afternoon in Wyman Park. For dinner, head down to Remmington for drinks and food at Clavel – my favorite taco spot in the city. If you’re into mezcal, you’ve got to get their Mezcalita with sal de chapulines. Trust me. To finish out the night we can pop over to Fadensonnen and hang on the patio with some drinks.

Saturday: Hit Fell’s Point again, early enough to catch the farmer’s market. Grab a coffee from Zeke’s there and some DMV Empanadas to cruise around with while looking for veggies and local goods. There’s a lot of energy in the area on the weekends so, I say, either hang in the area, maybe shop around, grab a beer at Ministry Of Brewing, or hang out in Patterson Park for the morning. Once lunchtime rolls around, head over to Highlandtown and grab some pupusas and vegan queso or, if you’re burned out on that sort of thing, Drunken Noodles at Mayuree Thai Tavern. Either way, stop by Bmore Licks for ice cream after. Poke around the neighborhood’s sidewalk sales and secondhand stores or just walk around by the water, it’s scenic and really nice around sunset. A big chunk of Baltimore’s nightlife pops off in the area so once the sun goes down, post up at Spirit’s or Happy Hour Heaven, who have some awesome fish tacos.

Sunday: It’s our last day in the area so let’s take it easy. Check out the Baltimore farmers market and bazaar downtown under the underpass. Grab coffee and breakfast there or head over to the Bun Shop. Hang on the lawn at the MICA bus station building in Pearlstone Park, grab lunch at Land Of Kush, and check out some of the vintage shops. End the day at Owl Bar and toast to a long week in Baltimore.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I owe a lot to the cartoonists, John Porcellino and Jeffrey Brown. I never would have believed in myself and started drawing seriously if it weren’t for their comics and fearless storytelling. Also a big huge thanks to Whitney and the ILP crew, MSU’s wonderful and supportive faculty, Payal Gandhi’s mentorship with AIGA Chicago and my brother, Dathan, who’s kept me going through it all.

Website: https://www.andrewhaener.com/

Instagram: @andrewhaener

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewhaener/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrewhaenerillustration/

Other: https://andrewhaener.itch.io/

Image Credits
artist portrait photo: Micah E. Wood Proxy product photo: Patrick Martin