Moving On - the Art of Steve Hanks Book available from Snow Goose Gallery.
Steve Hanks is first
and foremost a figure painter. His watercolor paintings are infused
with emotion and a kind of poetry formed by light and shadow in his
compositions. He often paints what he refers to as "moments of
introspective solitude," with deep respect for the privacy of the
individual lost in reflection. Each painting holds a mystery that is
also a personal story about the artist as he expresses his own
emotional unfolding through art.
Just as writers are urged to "write what you know," Steve Hanks
paints what he lives. When his children were born his work was filled
the profound intimacy between infants and parents, the unexpected joy
of toddlers, and the wonder of youngsters finding their way in the
outside world.
Throughout his body of work, the study of the figure is primary and
no where is this more in evidence than in Hanks' nudes. Forms are
defined by light slanting through windows and sunlight through fabric
or the drape of a sheet. Through Steve's mastery of composition, shadow
and light, his figures emerge from the paper fully formed, unique, and
mysterious.