Erin Hanson capture the beauty of light during the golden hour
“My goal is to capture the beauty of light during the golden hour and transform ordinary landscapes into extraordinary mosaics of color and texture. I apply oil paints in thick, expressive brushstrokes laid side-by-side, without blending, in the style I coined Open Impressionism. My goal for each painting is to capture a moment in time so beautiful it makes you catch your breath when you see it. I want my paintings to speak to you again and again, drawing you in, making you part of the impressionistic movement.”
— Erin Hanson
Erin Hanson has been painting in oils since she was eight years old. As a teenager, she apprenticed at a mural studio where she painted 40-foot-tall works on canvas, while selling art commissions on the side. After getting a degree in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley, Erin became a rock climber at Red Rock Canyon, Nevada. Inspired by the colorful scenery she was climbing, she decided to return to her love of painting and create one painting every week for the rest of her life. She has stuck to that decision ever since, becoming one of the most prolific artists in history. Erin Hanson’s style is known as “Open Impressionism” and is taught in art schools worldwide. With thousands of collectors eagerly anticipating her work and millions of followers online, Hanson has become an iconic, driving force in the rebirth of contemporary impressionism.
Open Impressionism uses color to create emotion, thick oil paint strokes to create movement, and separated brushwork to create a stained glass effect. Open Impressionism is a blend of classical impressionism and modern expressionism, with a dash of plein air style. Unlike traditional oil painters, Hanson does not build up the painting layer by layer; instead, she lays her paint strokes side by side without overlapping and works to get each stroke “right the first time.” These clean strokes give a mosaic effect to her paintings, while also conveying a sense of movement to her work. She uses a limited palette of only five pigments to create a vivid dance of un-muddied color upon the canvas, choosing colors that ignite the imagination and capture the emotional feeling of being out of doors.
Hanson now resides in Oregon’s beautiful Willamette Valley, where she paints the local wine country and travels far and wide to chase the light and capture the dramatic colors of nature on her canvases. Her 19,000-square-foot art studio and gallery are open to the public, and visitors can tour Erin’s expansive operations, see her 3D scanning and artwork printing facilities, and maybe even catch the artist at work in her studio.
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