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Water is an elemental force in much of artist Steve Hanks’ work whether it be ocean-based landscapes or figures in lakes, rivers, and yes, even bathwater. We are, after all, largely made of water. Its movement and fluidity reflect and inspire our lives. Hanks paintings of children offer beautiful surface stories layered with potent meaning. He stays connected to both the loneliness and the magic of childhood. "Time of Wonder" conveys the unknown possibilities in the future of a single young life as he faces the seemingly infinite ocean. “What I like most about this painting is the way the overcast, misty sky affects the light and colors, like the clarity of the waves breaking behind the boy and the fog sitting on the mountains in the background,” says the artist. “It’s a very solitary, magical place and this youngster is not standing still in this vast landscape. He’s moving forward.”
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Although teachers often cited his artistic ability, Steve Hanks’ main interest
while growing up around San Francisco was sports. As a young teenager, Hanks
pursued surfing and tennis with passion. He eventually tired of a steady diet
of competitive tennis, but continued to surf, finding a spiritual connection
with the ocean. “Surfing had a strong influence on my paintings,” he
says. “The ocean often appears in my work, because I have such strong feelings
for it.”
Although it was apparent early on that he had talent, Hanks refused to do the
required assignments in his high school art class and earned a grade of C in
the class. “To prove I was good, I did a one-man show at the high school and
sold my first painting to another art teacher,” he says.
After high school Hanks enrolled in summer session commercial art courses at
the Academy of Art in San Francisco. “The only way I could convince my parents
to let me go was to say I was going into commercial art,” he says. “I didn’t
even know what that was!” He did well in his commercial art classes, but it
was a life drawing class that captured his interest. He focused his energy on
the study of anatomy and figure drawing and transferred into the California
College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. He graduated in the 1960s
with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and then moved back to New Mexico in
search of a home art gallery.
Initially, he drew in pencil and painted in oils. His paintings were
impressionistic while his drawings were more realistic. Eventually, an
allergic reaction to oils forced him to experiment with watercolors. Using the
techniques learned from other mediums, he found he could create watercolors
as “finished” as oils. Deeply affected by the emotions, shifting attitudes
and music of the 1960s, the music of 60s icon Bob Dylan often accompanies
Hanks as he paints in his studio today.
Steve Hanks’ paintings are much more than endearing images of women and
children. Rather than conveying a specific message through his paintings,
Hanks prefers to explore memories and emotions. “All art is an escape to
somewhere you want to be or a feeling you want to have," Hanks says. "People
see different things in my paintings because we all have different backgrounds
and feelings.”
Hanks highly collected nudes convey an introspective solitude that prompts the
viewer to think about his or her own life and path. “Women occupy a special
niche in my sensitivity. They express more storytelling ability. There’s more
magic in them,” he says.
Art jurors began recognizing the quality of his work in 1973. Steve Hanks won
the Arts for the Parks Marine Art Award of Excellence in 1990 and 1994, and
has been one of the Arts for the Parks top 100 artists since 1989. In 1991,
Steve Hanks received the National Watercolor Society Merit Award and the
National Academy of Western Art awarded him the Gold Medal in 1992. Since
1993, he has been one of U.S. Art Magazine's top ten American artists. When
the Pacific Rim show in Seattle, WA decided to open the show up to a wider
variety of art in 1999, they selected Steve as Artist of the Year. Steve was
one of five winners selected to the U.S. Art Hall of Fame 2000. He was named
as one of the top 25 selling artists in the June, 2002 issue of Decor
magazine. The 7th Annual Andre Agassi Grand Slam for Children chose Steve as
their Feature Artist in 2002.
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