We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erin Hanson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erin Hanson below.

Erin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

The first big commission I ever did was when I was 12 years old. I was asked to create an album cover for my childhood friend’s dad. He wanted a very specific image: an Incan girl walking down a winding trail from the mountains to a distant Incan village, carrying two large pails of water on her shoulders.

After a few tries, I was able to capture the imagery he wanted for his album cover. Then came the moment that always stands out in my memory: he paid me $200 in a giant stack of $2 bills. This was in the early 90’s, when $2 bills were very rare. I remember being so awed to see such a collection of special bills, and they were all my own. All my hard work seemed quite worth it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I capture dramatic landscapes by focusing on the abstract shapes and colors around me, bringing to life the movement and freedom of the outdoors with broad, loose brushstrokes. My paintings appear as vibrant mosaics of color and texture, encouraging viewers to let their imaginations escape into my paintings.

I have spent a lifetime hiking and exploring the landscapes of the West. At age eight I began my studies of oil painting and learned how to capture the light and motion of the outdoors onto my canvas. About 15 years ago, I moved to Las Vegas and began rock climbing at Red Rock Canyon. This is when I decided to become a landscape painter, and I decided to create one painting every week for the rest of my life, and see where my art took me. I have stuck to that decision ever since.

My style has developed into a contemporary form of impressionism that I call “Open Impressionism.” My colors are pre-mixed from a limited palette, and I apply my paint in controlled “loose” brush strokes, going over the canvas only once without layering. This technique allows the natural impasto texture of the oils to stand out, adding an additional dimension to my work. My technique of laying the paint down side-by-side creates a mosaic or stained glass effect to my paintings, imitating the way I perceive light filtering through a tree or cresting over a hillside.

I wish to communicate my love for the outdoors with bright, dramatic paintings that hit the viewer on an emotional level, capturing the way one “feels” a landscape rather than how a camera would capture a static landscape.

I now have two galleries, one in McMinnville, Oregon, and one in Carmel-by-the-Sea in California. You can collect my original oil paintings (from petite to large scale), and I also offer fully textured 3D limited edition prints, as well as canvas prints.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The most immediate way to support the arts is, of course, to purchase original artwork and prints and surround yourself with the art you love. The other thing we should do as advocates of the arts is to make sure art stays in the education system, and that museums remain open and funded, so that the next generation understands the history and importance of art in our culture.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

NFTs are great for artists who work in the digital world. For an oil painter like myself, it is more important for me to create pieces that can be hung in homes and enjoyed on a daily basis. My highly textured oil paintings change in the light and offer different experiences depending on the viewing angle and distance. It is hard to capture all this experience in a digital image.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.erinhanson.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinhansonartist/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheErinHansonGallery/