Artist: Steve Hanks
Title: Nature's Touch
Edition: S/N to 550 Paper and 100 Giclee on Canvas
Image size: Paper 26"w x 13 3/8"h and Canvas 29"w x 15"h
Publish Date: November 2006
About the Artist: The mystery of what lies below the surface is one of water’s most fascinating attractions.The same can be said of the paintings of Steve Hanks, where water and its presence have a nomenclature all their own. “Oceans are vast and we are small in comparison,” says Hanks. “When a painting occurs at seaside, often the subjects are contemplating significant passages in their lives. Rivers are on the move and going somewhere, as are the figures in these paintings. Lakes are most often environments of calm water and safety. Harmony is often the overriding theme.

Bathed in the glow of a warm sun, the woman in this painting is connecting with nature and the uncomplicated joy of life. Poised and confident she dips her foot beneath the surface, an overture to exploring the unknown.”

Steve Hanks, whose paintings sensitively portray women and children, spent his childhood on the coast of California. His inspiration to paint developed in his late teens, after his family moved from Ventura County to New Mexico. In the 1960s, Hanks returned to the West Coast, enrolling at the University of California at Berkeley. Later, he attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco and graduated from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland.

In June, 1998 he was featured artist at the prestigious Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa with a display of more than 40 originals. He was Artist of the Year at the 1999 Pacific Rim Art Exposition, leading the show’s transition from wildlife to a more inclusive range of art.

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