Erin Hanson spent most of her childhood in Los Angeles though she was born in Portland, Oregon. She’s a life-long landscape painter. Her father was a computer programmer while her mother was a teacher. Erin began her study of oil painting at ten years old. As a child, due to the fact that television viewing was not allowed inside their home, she developed an early affinity for painting and drawing. Her parents encouraged her to play music, read books and to appreciate the outdoors. As a teenager, Erin worked in a mural studio where she created paintings for casinos and restaurants around the world. She liked to spend the summers rock climbing, camping and hiking. She paused from her art work to study bio-engineering at UC Berkeley, and in 2007 she retuned to art full time. Inspired by her adventure at the southern California desert and Red Rock Canyon, she has since spent almost ten years painting the dramatic scenery of Nevada, Utah, California and Arizona.
She has created a unique style of her own, a style that brings together the elements of modern expressionism and classic impressionism which she spices with a dash of “plein-air style.” She voraciously learnt acrylics, watercolor, oils, life drawing, pen and ink, and pastels from accomplished art instructors. Today, her oil paintings stand out in crowd because they give life to landscapes and bring to contemporary Western landscapes a fresh new look. Her landscape paintings are characterized by colors not necessarily found in nature. She has continued to use the outdoors to inspire a huge collection of work.
