CONTRIBUTED PHOTO - Toledo-based artist Hannah Mullen stands in front of two paintings she recently had on display at the Des Moines Central Library — “First Love,” left, and “Pink Sings,” right.

Ever since she was a youngster attending school in Marshalltown, art has always been the best part of Hannah Mullen’s day — in fact, one of her drawings won an award way back then and was eventually displayed in Des Moines as a result. Now, in a full circle moment of sorts, the Toledo-based artist has had her works displayed prominently at two major sites in the state’s capital city — the Des Moines Botanical Garden and the Des Moines Public Library.

“Art’s always been an outlet and a relaxation point in my day as far as when I was in school, and I just recently have picked it back up in the last few years,” she said. “Life gets busy, and having kids and work, so I kind of put it on the shelf for a while. But along with life’s busyness, also, as many of us do, we struggle with self confidence and as we’re growing up, we believe things that are untrue about ourselves, and one of those things that I was believing was that I’d never be good enough.”

Despite those periods of doubt, Mullen, who has been a stay-at-home mom and a substitute teacher and now works as the administrative assistant at Rube’s Steakhouse in Montour, has always found ways to stay creative in whatever she does and said she found “little elements of art” in all of it.

“I have done a lot of work, a lot of healing, a lot of just personal healing and growth that has really reopened that avenue of creating in my life,” she said.

A quote from a TikTok post that says “May you heal so hard that you start creating again” has stuck with recently, and she feels a newfound freedom now that she has overcome the aforementioned self-doubt and found the confidence she once possessed as a child.

When she isn’t busy with her day job or raising a family with her husband Travis, Hannah, a self-described “recovering perfectionist” enjoys painting and creating in her free time.

“Even if it’s five to 10 minutes of just planning a painting and pulling out the colors that I want to use and just painting one base coat, I can feel a relaxation come over me, and it’s my outlet,” she said. “It just refreshes me when I’m able to play with color and paint for a bit.”

After joining the Iowa Artists Association, Mullen responded to a call for submissions and submitted pieces for consideration to be showcased in exhibits at the Des Moines Central Library, titled Art from the Heartland, on Grand Avenue and the Des Moines Botanical Garden, titled Wild and Wonderful — two ended up at the library, and one at the garden, running from June 30 to Aug. 30.

The painting at the Botanical Garden, titled “Spring Blooms,” has been sold to an out-of-state buyer. Looking forward, Mullen hopes to get more involved in the local art scene, noting that she has been in contact with Mike Davis of the Everyday Artists Society and Toledo Economic Development Director Katherine Ollendieck about adding some paintings to the ongoing Downtown Art Walk in Toledo. She also has her eyes set on the community just down the road on Highway 30 where she grew up and graduated from high school.

“I’d love to do some more displaying of work in the Marshalltown area and have my work seen in my hometown,” she said.