Should I work for free…

Art by freeimageslive / creator is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

March 14, 2013March 16, 2013 | Hannah Sterry

This might get me a whole lot of hate, but it’s a handy chart that I feel I should share with every musician, artist, photographer, writer or other creative who has ever been asked and even sometimes expected, by complete strangers, to work for free.

http://www.shouldiworkforfree.com/

I am not saying that you shouldn’t work for free, but stressing that it should be your choice, that you shouldn’t be pressured in to it and do not need to feel guilty if you refuse. Would you ever expect a builder or lawyer to work for you for free?

Example: I have been asked before (by people I do not know) to play 15 minute slots on the harp (not an easy instrument to transport) for absolutely nothing, for profiting festivals and offered only a 5% discount on the cost of a ticket in return. Obviously, my answer was no.

Music is a skilled job and those choosing the profession should be paid accordingly and not exploited.

http://www.shouldiworkforfree.com/

Feel free to share your stories and let us know how you responded!

Make a request! What would you like to see me play?

The many faces of Hannah Sterry: Jazz Flautist & Harpist

March 1, 2013March 1, 2013 | Hannah Sterry

Hello! Hannah here!

I’m currently taking requests for harp covers and will be recording and uploading the results to youtube! I’m happy to attempt absolutely anything… well, anything possible (things like “Flight of the Bumble Bee” might be a bit of a bother). Requests for folk, heavy metal, jazz and pop are all welcome – I’ll try them all!

Feel free to request flute pieces too – If you want to hear a cool jazz version of “God Save the Queen”, or a Jethro-Tull-style rendition of Adiemus, I’ll do it – Make these suggestions as crazy and wacky as you like!

Can’t wait to hear what you come up with! Just leave a comment or send me a tweet: @Hannah Sterry

Hang out on Sterry Cartoons facebook group!

Musical Compliments - Cartoon by Hannah Sterry

November 27, 2012November 27, 2012 | Hannah Sterry

There is now a Sterry Cartoons Group over on facebook.

So feel free to hang out over there and share in the friendly banter!

I’ll post the occasional cartoon and we can all have a bit of a laugh.

Live Music

There are a few gigs coming up in December, where I’ll be performing as guest jazz flautist with Hamer & Isaacs gypsy swing band. They’re a brilliant group of musicians playing lively Django-style jazz and really good fun to watch, so if you get a chance to see them – Don’t miss it!

The dates I’ll be joining Hamer & Isaacs are:

8th December – East Portlemouth Village Hall, 8pm

18th December – White Horse Inn, Launceston, 8pm

They’re playing a lot of dates in Devon and Cornwall in December, so it’s well worth having a look on their shows page to see if they’re playing anywhere near you.

Also remade the header photo for the website (below). What do you think?

Just a quick post today – Hope you’re all well!

Hannah x

Sterry Cartoons: Crotchety!

Crotchety Crotchet - A music joke cartoon by Sterry Cartoons.

October 16, 2012March 11, 2019 | Hannah Sterry

It’s been a productive cartooning day… sorry to end it on such an angry note! 😛

On the subject of notes, I’d really appreciate it if I could have a few more likes on the Sterry Cartoons facebook page. Sorry to ask – I’m hoping to get enough people involved so that we can have some really good competitions and giveaways!

Hope the cartoons keep you smiling!

All the best,

Hannah Sterry x

The Sterrys: Tuesday night is music night

Hannah and John Sterry from "The Sterrys" jazz trio.

Aside | September 20, 2012September 20, 2012 | Hannah Sterry

The 25th of September marks the last Tuesday Night is Music Night of this year and I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone at The Cottage Hotel, on behalf of The Sterrys, because we’ve had an amazing time.

It’s been great fun playing at The Cottage Hotel every week this summer and we’ve met some wonderful people, tasted some absolutely amazing food and really enjoyed playing to such a nice group of people.

Here are a few photos to sum up the wonderful time we’ve had here:

Having fun with the folk harp (sometimes accompanied by Joe on flute).

Fundraising for Hope Cove Lifeboat out on the terrace.

I’m not sure how much we raised, but have been told it was a success!

We even had time for a quick photo opportunity as the sun was setting!

In summary, we’ve had an absolutely amazing time with everyone who’s visited or worked at the hotel.

This is probably the best way to illustrate it:

Thank you to everyone who’s come and supported us,

I really hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have!

Best wishes,

Hannah Sterry

The Sterrys

Shop

Crotchety Tee by Sterry Cartoons. Jokes for music teachers and students.

September 19, 2012July 13, 2014 | Hannah Sterry

Amusing t-shirt designs and illustrations by Sterry Cartoons creator, Hannah Sterry.

All designs are available in mens’ and womens’ sizes on a variety of colours. Just click the images to find out more!

Cute Baby Sheep Tee by Sterry Cartoons	Rabbit Pi Cartoon Tee by Sterry Cartoons
Crazy Computer T-Shirt by Sterry Cartoons	Music Joke Cartoon Tee by Sterry Cartoons
Beeline Tee Shirt by Sterry Cartoons View more Bumble Bee T-Shirts	Don’t Eat The Kiwis Shirt by Sterry Cartoons Browse Kiwis T-Shirts
Smiling Music Note Hoodies and Tees!	“Aimez-vous l’accent?” French Music T-Shirt!
Living with Music T-Shirts	Crotchety Music Joke T-Shirts

Follow Sterry Cartoons on: Facebook / Google+ / Twitter / Tumblr

If you’d like to license any of the above images, contact me via hannah@hannahsterry.com to discuss pricing.

“How far do these music jokes go?”

August 31, 2012September 12, 2012 | Hannah Sterry

Answer: Too far!

Yes, I have some more music cartoons for you and they’ll be available in my shop shortly (when I get round to it). There are more over on Sterry Cartoons facebook page.

In the meantime, it’s been an exciting few weeks and I haven’t blogged much, so here’s what’s been happening recently:

The Sterrys live music for Tuesday Night is Music Night at The Cottage Hotel have been a great success and we’ve been asked to continue through September! Earlier in August we (Hannah and John Sterry) also played there to raise money for Hope Cove Lifeboat and someone was kind enough to to take this photo:

It was a wonderful place to play, partly because the weather was so amazing and I managed to get a picture of the view from the terrace. It’s really lovely on sunny evenings on the Tuesday nights, because as we’re playing we can watch the sun setting over the sea – it’s beautiful.

Exciting news:

I’m finally learning to drive after years of putting it off because of university and moving!

The Boyfriend Song now has a much better delivery and set of chords and I need to practice it to perfection!

My SketchBook is filling up really quickly and I’ve been talking to a local animator about possibly animating some of my cartoons!

Anyway… that’ll do for today, but I’ll keep you updated as this all progresses (when I find time to blog, that is).

Feel free to ask me any questions or just have a nice chat in the comments! 🙂

Music Cartoon: Minimalism

August 17, 2012September 13, 2012 | Hannah Sterry

Less is more is a phrase that was repeated to me from a very early age, although this may have been because toddler-me was extremely messy and seemed to think that no wall should be free from gigantic crayon scribbles!

Now, I generally manage to keep my scribbles on paper, but I’m trying my luck with vector graphics in a futile attempt to clean up my act (and my cartoons). “Minimalism” is my very simple first attempt at drawing in Inkscape.

What do you reckon?

More cartoons from Hannah Sterry…

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THIS WEEK: Upcoming Gigs & Fluid Pianos

August 5, 2012August 5, 2012 | Hannah Sterry

Here’s what’s happening this week:

Tuesday Night is Music Night at the Cottage Hotel. I’ll be playing flute as part of The Sterrys and watching the sun setting over the water at Hope Cove. Feel free to relax with a cocktail and enjoy the music! Starts at 6:45pm.

Wednesday… brings the second of Ben Carr’s Music Sessions at The Hideaway. Anyone can come along, bring an instrument and join in (I’ll be there with my flute). The whole evening’s great fun and you’ll meet some really nice people. Starts at 8pm.

Thursday… features An audience with Auntie Pus at B-Bar, Plymouth. I’m really hoping to go to this, but haven’t quite worked out the logistics yet. Either way, I’m sure it’ll be a brilliant evening. Starts at 8:30pm.

Sunday… Gallows Ghost play The Hideaway and have asked me if I’d like to stand in for a few tunes as a guest musician. They’re lovely people and their music is great fun to play, so the answer is always yes!

Today’s discovery is… a new instrument called The Fluid Piano. The strings all have sliders that enable each note to be changed in pitch (by up to a whole tone) as the piano is being played. This also means that the piano can be tuned to the true harmonic series, making it much more compatible with traditional indian music, which doesn’t use the standard western tuning (twelve note equal temperament) and can often involve fluctuations in pitch.

Anyway, I hope you’re all having a good week and if you happen to be at any of these gigs, feel free to say hi (I’ll be the one with the flute and the long brown hair)!