Meet Patrick Hasson | Artist/Entrepreneur

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

Hi Patrick, how do you think about risk?
As the saying goes, “the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.” My current success as an artist/entrepreneur is directly related to the risks I have been willing to take…case in point…back in 2013, I was living in LA working as a freelance video editor. I had come to Hollywood to become a successful writer/director but most of my time was spent working and trying to pay the bills. I was artistically unhappy, tired of living in a shitty apartment, and my future as 43 year old freelancer was looking bleaker by the day. Something had to change. I knew that I’d never be able to afford a house in LA and had always enjoyed coming out to the desert to get away from things. One day while hanging in Joshua Tree, I thought to myself, “I wonder what houses go for out here?” Now, at the time, Joshua Tree wasn’t the hipster mecca that it is today and you could actually buy a house out here for 6ok. After doing some research, I was able to purchase a beat-up 2 bedroom home for $73,000. My friends in the film world thought I had lost my mind, asking “what the hell are you gonna do in the desert…smoke meth?” I really had no idea what I was going to do with the house, but there was such freedom knowing I had a place to call home, and more importantly, a place to create. I had gotten back into painting at the time, and since the house was in such bad shape, I decided to paint the house in bright colors. Most of my neighbors thought I was insane, but the simple truth was painting the house in bright colors made me happy. I was able to transform this former drug house into something beautiful…a livable art retreat. Because I was still living and working in LA, I decided to put house on airbnb, and that’s when my life changed. The house was a big success and before I knew it, I was making a living through airbnb. Now, I wasn’t making a fortune, but it was successful enough for me to purchase another fixer-upper home in Joshua Tree. I painted the house various bright colors, but took it a step farther, painting red and purple stripes across the roof (again, my friends and neighbors thought I had lost my mind). Rancho De Colores was born and I was now running two successful livable art retreats. Against the advice of friends, I moved out to Joshua Tree permanently and lived in a small trailer at the edge of my property. In 2019, I had my first art show (DESERT DUDES) and the show was a big hit, eventually landing in an article in USA TODAY all about my colorful airbnbs and unique painting style (Dripping). Fast forward to 2023, I just opened my newest airbnb in Joshua Tree (The Rainbow House) and I’m gearing up for my next one-man show entitled ‘1969.’ None of this happens without taking that first giant risk, and more importantly, believing in myself.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
After buying my first house in Joshua Tree, I was doing A LOT of (house) painting. I was amazed at how a color of paint (specifically the colors of the rainbow) could absolutely transform a room and create a particular feeling. I’ve always been a fan of color, but having this large canvas to experiment on, a forgotten love of painting was unleashed. Now, I went to art school back in the day, but because I wasn’t very good at realism, I decided my talents would be better served making films. Because I didn’t have the money to decorate the walls of my first airbnb, I started buying $10 mini-guitars down on Olvera street and splattered them with rainbow-colored house paint. I also began painting abstracts at the time, throwing multi-colored house paint on large pieces of wood a-la-Jackson Pollock. The art was raw and instinctual, but it before I knew it, I was having my first show in Hollywood in 2016. Although I enjoyed the process, I didn’t feel that I had a truly unique style. It wasn’t until I decided to paint a linoleum floor in the RV I was living in that I had that breakthrough. I wanted to paint the floor using my custom colors (saturated hues of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple), but I couldn’t use the paint-throwing technique on the floor because the paint would get everywhere. “What if I put each color in a squeeze bottle?,” I thought. I knew that would allow me much more control of the paint, and because I was using acrylic house paint, the colors wouldn’t blend together. I started squirting small colored blobs onto the floor, forming a mosaic pattern, but then I took a house nail and ran the tip of it through the various colored circles, creating very unique patterns. I then added small drips of paint into this developing mosaic and took a step back. I was so beautiful and unique and solely my own…that day ‘Dripping’ was born. It was then I decided to do a series of paintings using this style on portraits of desert rock musicians (Josh Homme, Brant Bjork, Mario Lalli, John Garcia, etc). A year later, my ‘Desert Dudes’ series opened at the Yucca Valley Visual & Performing Arts Center and the world got its first taste of my ‘dripping’ style. I’ve been painting obsessively every since, doing portrait commissions and working on my newest series–‘1969,’–which will feature portraits of the musicians (The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, and Joni Mitchell) that made 1969 one of the greatest years in music. I’m also in talks with Behr Paint about possible sponsorship possibilities because it is my paint of choice.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The first places I would take them would be my two greatest artistic inspirations in the desert…Noah Purifoy’s Outdoor Desert Art Museum in Joshua Tree and Leonard Knight’s Salvation Mountain down between the Salton Sea and Slab City. And while down in the Salton Sea, we’ve got to visit East Jesus and West Satan in Slab City and Bombay Beach on the Salton Sea (where the Bombay Beach Biennale is held). Joshua Tree National Park, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and the Algodones Dunes are a must. As far as the Joshua Tree/Yucca Valley area–all these are amazing–but listed in no particular order…The Dez (Cafe), Country Kitchen, Crossroads Cafe, Pappy & Harriet’s, The Integratron, Giant Rock, Indian Cove, Natural Sister’s Cafe, Roadrunner Grab & Go, The Rainbow House (of course!!), Joshua Tree Saloon, Art Queen, La Matadora Gallery, Always Love Tattoo, Furstworld, Joshua Tree Music Festival, Yucca Valley Visual & Performing Arts Center, Taylor Junction, Joshua Tree Health Food, Beauty Bubble Salon & Museum, AWE Bar, Frontier Cafe and…so many more to list!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutouts would go to:

1) My former filmmaking partner, Juan Carlos Saizarbitoria, who was one of the few people to support my decision to head to the desert.
2) My good friend/attorney, Jeff Feld, who’s my #1 fan and has helped me with legal advice on so many occasions.
3) My mentor/writer Mick Betancourt, who listens to my insanity and helps me make sense of it all.
4) My friend/writer Brian Blueskye who’s Desert Sun article put me on the map.
5) My friend/filmmaker Stefan Avalos who helped me rehab a drug house into a successful airbnb.
6) My friend/musician Mario Lalli, who put together the legendary, desert rock jam for my DESERT DUDES closing party.
7) My friend/artist Paige Peter’s constant support/advice on my art that helps me create mind-blowing portraits instead of multi-colored piles of mud.
7) All my LA sober friends who are too many to mention but always have my back!!

Website: www.patrickhasson.com

Instagram: @patrickhasson @therainbowhousejt

Twitter: patrickhasson

Facebook: Patrick Hasson

Other: The Rainbow House on airbnb: airbnb.com/h/therainbowhousejt

Image Credits
All photos by: Sandra Goodin