Beyond Plein Air | Erin Hanson in the News
Paso Robles, CA
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
"Erin Hanson is in a very good mood. Perhaps that’s because the rock climber, explorer, and plein air artist spends a great deal of her time outdoors. Her exuberance shows through in her bold, bright, impulsive paintings of Utah’s rock formations, Arizona’s deserts, and more recently, the smooth folds of Paso Robles’ hills. Photorealism isn’t Hanson’s style. Rather, her bursting, buoyant oil paintings seem to convey the spirit of a place, the energy and life and emotion that vibrates through it.
"'I want people to love the desert like I love it,' she says."
"Hanson’s paintings, which will be displayed at the Paso Robles Festival of the Arts outdoor show and sale, are not what immediately springs to mind when one thinks of plein air. Honestly, most plein air paintings remind me of hotels. Hers make me want to go play outside.
"Hanson is just one of many artists who will bring their talents from near and far to the downtown Paso festival Memorial Day weekend. And while a great deal of work seems to concern itself chiefly with pastoral scenes, ocean views and mountain vistas, there are odd and unexpected treasures to be found as well."
New Times article by Anna Weltner
About Erin
ERIN HANSON has been painting in oils since she was 8 years old. As a teenager, she apprenticed at a mural studio where she worked on 40-foot-long paintings while selling art commissions on the side. After being told it was too hard to make a living as an artist, she got her degree in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley. Afterward, 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 new painting every week.
She has stuck to that decision, becoming one of the most prolific artists in history, with over 3,000 oil paintings sold to eager collectors. Erin Hanson’s style is known as "Open Impressionism" and is taught in art schools worldwide. With millions of followers, Hanson has become an iconic, driving force in the rebirth of impressionism, inspiring thousands of other artists to pick up the brush.