From Friday, Jan. 16, through May 28 at the St. George Art Museum, Erin Hanson will be featured in an exhibit that highlights national parks. Locals and visitors of Zion National Park and St. George are invited to meet the artist on opening day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Hanson’s “Painted Parks” collection of landscapes will be displayed in the main gallery, kicking off the museum’s “2016 National Parks: Uniting America: 100 Years on Common Ground” event. The pieces showcase majestic National Park landscapes from Bryce Canyon to the Oregon Cascades. Hanson will be donating 10 percent of all exhibition sales towards the preservation of Zion National Park.
California native Hanson is already well known for her signature wet-on-wet impasto technique, “open-impressionism.” Hanson’s ability to capture the grandeur, beauty, and natural grace of America’s protected landscapes has led to an increasing popularity among impressionist collectors. An expanded Erin Hanson Gallery opened its doors in Los Angeles on Nov. 14, 2015.
Current oil paintings feature national parks such as Arches National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks National Park, and Glacier National Park, among others.
“I love the intense, saturated colors I see at dawn and sunset, and many of my paintings are re-imagined creations of those times of day,” said Hanson. “I use vivid colors to excite the imagination, allowing viewers to explore their own experiences and dreams of the wide outdoors. My thick, chunky style of laying on paint strokes has an impressionistic feel that makes you want to reach out and touch the canvas. I want my paintings to be as alive and vibrant as the scenery that inspired them.”
Hanson’s contemporary painting style was inspired by masters such as Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Edgar Payne. She began commissioning paintings at age ten. A lifelong painter, Hanson combined three decades of oil painting talent with her rock climbing skills into a formidable collection of impressionist paintings.
“National Parks are a treasure we can’t afford to neglect,” stated Hanson. “My park landscapes are more than artistic expressions: they are an invitation to enjoy, protect, and preserve these amazing natural resources for future generations.”
The St. George Art Museum, a restored 1930’s sugar beet warehouse, is situated in St. George’s Historic District at 47 East 200 North. The museum features a number of local events in addition to the year-long national-parks-related series of events in 2016.
For more information, visit sgartmuseum.org. For further information about Hanson, please contact Amy Jensen at (323) 384-4593 or amy@erinhanson.com.
this is the best painting I have probably ever seen in my life – inspiring – thank you – susan weinberg artist