Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Hanson.
Erin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I fell in love with painting when I was just a little girl. My school took me to a museum, where I saw Van Gogh’s famous painting of purple irises. When I got home, I begged my mother to plant some irises in our backyard, and I waited excitedly for the blooms to appear. But when they finally rose up out of the ground, I was shocked to discover that they were nowhere near as beautiful as the painting that had so captured my imagination. That was what made me realize that art could bring even more beauty and wonder to the world than real life.
I stayed connected to painting throughout my childhood and into my teen years, including selling commissions of pets and working in a mural studio. But I was eventually convinced by other painters that it was just too hard to make a living as an artist. So, out of high school, I got a degree in bioengineering from UC Berkeley. After graduating from college, I realized I didn’t want to spend my life in a laboratory, and I soon returned to painting. A modest beginning at art festivals grew over the years into the career I have today—and proving quite clearly that it is, in fact, possible to make a living as an artist.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t been what I would call smooth! I had to figure out for myself how to make a living as an artist, which is a path that’s certainly not clearly laid out. I went through a lot of trial and error to discover what worked.
I actually found the most successful thing was doing art festivals. But once I realized that festivals were going to be my path to making it, I had to deal with a personal challenge, which was that I had a really bad stutter. It was really hard for me to talk to people in person, and of course at a festival, that’s all you do.
It took me about five years, but I figured out how to master my stammer, and now I can talk to anyone I want. Actually, if I hadn’t just decided to do art festivals, even though it was really hard for me, I never would’ve overcome that personal barrier.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m the creator of the painting style Open Impressionism, in which I’ve produced more than 3,500 original works in the last fifteen years. Open Impressionism allows me to capture the emotion and movement of the natural world in oil on canvas. I see it as my personal mission to bring the beauty of the natural world to everyone, and my style has always been guided and refined by that mission.
I strive to teach others that life as an artist is not only possible, but well within their reach. Beyond my own work, I’m honored and inspired by the many artists around the world who picked up a brush because they felt inspired by my journey.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I’ve been a big-city girl most of my life (LA, Berkeley, Las Vegas)… but I am hooked to the unique small-town living that McMinnville offers. Five-star dining, fantastic wines, gorgeous landscapes, all with no traffic and easy travel. I suppose the thing I like least about McMinnville is that places close early and tend to be closed on Sundays!
Pricing:
- Books and paper prints are a few hundred.
- Canvas prints and 3D Textured Replicas are thousands.
- Original oil paintings are usually in the tens of thousands.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.erinhanson.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinhansonartist
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ErinHansoncom
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB_RY4a5MxsPhsdTw85c0kg
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/erinhansonart/
