Azaleas, Painting, Acrylic on Wood Panel, 2020

Brent Hanson  

My goal for my art is to express emotion, interpret beauty, or to comment about life and humanity. 

While I have begun to paint more conceptual works based on my own life, as well as painting abstract works, figurative, and florals, I've always loved trees. They share some similarities to people. They have a character all their own. When they are young and virile they show it. Like some people, as they age, they bear the scars of life in ways that make them even more beautiful. As the seasons change, their character and beauty changes. I am grateful for all that trees contribute to life on earth. 

I began to explore painting arboreal works two years ago on large canvasses and panoramic triptychs (up to 3 feet by 9 feet) on aluminum to increase the impact. Expressing emotion through color, texture, and contrast is my primary goal. 

I also wanted this series to express the beauty and diversity of trees as evidently as within nature, so I decided to paint trees in every imaginable style including experimental, abstracted styles. There are so many styles yet to be explored….it is a work in progress.

Education:

I have trained under several local and internationally renowned artists including Carolyn Counnas, Robert Burridge, and Nathan Fowkes. Also, I've completed drawing and painting course work at the California Art Institute in Westlake Village, CA, the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, and the Kline Academy of Fine Art in Los Angeles and I continues to study painting in classes and workshops from artists whose work I admire.

Awards & Distinctions:

9 Merit Awards from various Buenaventura Art Association exhibits.
First place for mixed media at Moorpark Arts Festival 2013
Third place for painting at Moorpark Arts Festival 2013

Exhibitions:

Solo Shows:
* Avenida de Los Arboles (Avenue of the Trees) Tool Room Gallery, Ventura, CA July 1-31, 2017
• Persistent, Perplexing, Preoccupations: Buenaventura Gallery, Ventura, CA 
August 13-September 7, 2013
• What's Love Got To Do With It: Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo, 
CA January 31-February 23, 2013
• Saturation: Harbor Village Gallery, Ventura CA 
May 2-28, 2012

Group Shows:
Multiple exhibits and open competitions at Buenaventura Gallery, Blackboard Gallery, and Thousand Oaks Community Gallery in Ventura County from April 2015 to present.
• April 3-April 19, 2015: April show at HUD Gallery, Ventura, CA. 
• April 3-29, 2015: Westlake Village Art Guild 2015 Open Juried Show, Thousand Oaks, CA
• 2015: Curves and Lines Online exhibit: LinusGalleries.com
• 2015: Botanicals Online exhibit: LinusGalleries.com
• 2015: Black and White Online exhibit: Linus Galleries.com
• February 6-27, 2015: February Show at HUD Gallery, Ventura, CA.
• November 2010-February 2015: Exhibited in over 30 juried member shows and Open 
Competitions: Buenaventura and Harbor Village 
Galleries, Ventura, CA
• November 8-December 28, 2014: Fresh, South Bay Contemporary, Rolling Hills Estates, CA.
• October 30-November 28,2014: Clothing Optional, Blackboard Gallery, Camarillo, CA
• July 2014: Art Saves Lives, Ventura Arts Council, Government Center, Ventura CA
• June 1-August 19, 2014: Voices, Abstract Art Collective exhibit 
Bronfman Family Jewish Community Center, Santa
Barbara, CA
• March 22-30, 2014: Petals: at the Proverbs Coffee House, Camarillo, CA
• January 8-February 8, 2014: Abstract 8 at the Santa Barbara Tennis Club, 
Santa Barbara, CA
• December 5-28, 2013: In the Detail: Small Works: Blackboard Gallery, 
Camarillo, CA
• August 31-September 1, 2013 : Abstract Art Collective Bacara-Waldorf Benefit
Show, Santa Barbara, CA
• August 1-30, 2013: Unlimited, Blackboard Gallery, Camarillo, CA
• January 30-February 23, 2013: Essence, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, 
Camarillo, CA
• December 2012: Precious, Small Image Show: Studio Channel Islands Art 
Center, Camarillo, CA .
• October-December 2012: La Cuisine: The Pasadena Women's City Club
• July-September 2012: Come Fly With Me: The Pasadena Women's City Club
• Feb-March 2012: Thousand Oaks Art Association Open Competition Show
• December 2011: Small and Smaller: Studio Channel Islands Art Center
• July 6-30, 2011: Horizontal Shift: Studio Channel Islands Art Center 
• May 7-28, 2011: Floral Anthology: Studio Channel Islands Art Center 
• March 10 to April 27, 2011: Westlake Village Art Guild Annual Open Juried 
Show: Thousand Oaks Community Gallery, Thousand Oaks, CA
• November-December 2010: Studio Channel Islands Art Center Small Works
Show
• July-September 2010: The Big Show - Community Memorial Hospital, Ventura, CA
• April 2010: Works for a New Decade Juried Show: Studio Channel Islands Art
Center and Gallery; Camarillo, CA 
• March 2010: Westlake Village Art Guild Annual Open Juried Show: Thousand 
Oaks Community Gallery, Thousand Oaks, CA
• January 2010: Westlake Village Art Guild Annual Member's Show: Thousand 
Oaks, Community Gallery, Thousand Oaks, CA 
 

Artistic Influences:

Robert Burridge, Joan Miro, Van Gogh