Sheila Finch

An accomplished artist who has studied abroad in various countries Sheila Finch sees the elegant subtlety in colors dismissed by the casual viewer. This continued exploration of color is captured in her current series of skyscapes that both mesmerize and enchant as the viewer dances across through an array of beautiful tonal shifts throughout her work to evoke a mood of peace and serenity. The longer one looks upon her work the more one tends to see which is the beauty of natures more abstracted features. Read more about the artist below and explore her work more extensively on our website, www.hansongalleryfineart.com. 

Ask Sheila Finch if she is an artist, and she replies “Yes, that is who I am.” Not 'what', but 'who’. The deep truth of this statement has been borne out over and over as she has become the latest source of delightful works for private and corporate art collectors around the globe. Landscapes on the verge of abstracts reveal both her passion and her genius for color, for creating not just a scene, but the mood it engenders, as well.

Living and painting from her boat, Sheila gathers scenes from the sea to build a repertoire of visually stunning images. Her skyscapes show the acumen of a painter who knows water. Her art floats between the ethereal realm of abstraction and the concrete texture of realism.

Her genius with color developed early in her life. It began at the age of 13 in Ohio when her boyfriend made her a gift of watercolors and an easel. “I was impressed. These were professional artist supplies! He eventually became my husband',” she laughs. Her mother, also an artist, enrolled her in a class to study with a regional artist, concentrating on the basics of studio painting, her only formal training. At the age of 16, Sheila sold her first work and has since been a productive and successful artist who has sold works to corporate and private collectors both here and abroad. It was during this early period that she created her first award-winning work.

In 1992, Sheila and her family moved to Germany, where she first began painting outdoors, from real life, in the little village where she lived, Hutschenhausen. Sheila joined a professional painting artists tour through France. Included among the en-plein-air stops was a day of painting in Monet's Giverny gardens. She credits this experience for triggering a “quantum leap in my creative development.”

“I began to focus on a more abstracted style of landscape, becoming less interested in painting specific details, and much more interested in the thousands of subtle shades of warm and cool colors from nature,” Sheila recalls. As she developed her new style, she would seek out books on art and artists.

“When I first saw the work of the color field artist Marc Rothko, I was intrigued by the manner in which my eyes perceived colors as my gaze followed the edges of the large blocks of color in each painting... how my perception of the hues changed. For example, an outer color that is purple could make an interior area of yellow ochre look green instead of yellow... a muted brown next to a pure swatch of ultramarine blue made the blue look so much brighter... This was the beginning of my intense exploration of the use of color and pattern to create an emotional impression,” she recalls. “Another artist who has had a profound influence on my work is Wolf Kahn, for a similar reason, even though his landscapes are very different from Rothko's abstracts.” While in Europe, Finch had exhibits in Paris, and Germany.

Coastal Clouds Series #3

Moving to Northern California has again taken her work to a new level. “California is so visually stimulating, I cannot paint my emotional responses quickly enough to capture them all. I remember my first trip into the Sierras and not being able to breath. It wasn't the altitude,” she laughs, “we weren't that far above sea level yet!”

Through her use of color, Sheila strives to recreate strong, emotional impacts on the viewer. “I find I am drawn to images of landscapes that boarder on the abstract, and to abstracts which have a somewhat organic, defined nature,” she explains. Sheila has been featured multiple times by Gold River Scene Magazine and recognized by the National Arts Appreciation Program and Le Bateau Lavoir in Paris.

Corporate Collections
Carnegie Foundation, California
Intuit Corporation, California
Johnson & Johnson
Sutter Roseville Medical Center, California
The Lily Company, California
Charter Publishing Company, California

Scott Hanson-48 Plates

48 Plates

Travelling the Unites States with his family and visiting its vast array of beautiful sights compelled the artist Scott Hanson to capture those fond memories in a meaningful way. As Scott and his family journeyed from state to state they loved how they would often see licence plates either pinned up or artfully displayed in some way or another along fences or upon the sides of barns as they traveled the roadways. This lead to a hobby of collecting licence plates from each state they traveled to. As any collector likes to do, Scott displayed each unaltered plate on a wall within their home approximating their position within a rudimentary representation of the United States. This went on until they had collected a plate from each state.

Seeing all the plates presented together upon the wall led Scott to come up with the idea of cutting each of the plates into the shapes of the states they represented. He furthered learned stained glass window techniques so that he could apply a beautiful silver border around each state binding them together while showing off their individuality. After experimenting with a variety of canvases he finally settled on cold pressed steel which served as a beautiful and elegant contrast to the soldering used throughout the piece. Once he presented his gift to the family the first "48 Plates" became a beloved and permanent fixture in the home. As time went on and more of Scott's friends and colleagues would drop by the house and hint that he should share this with the world.

Hence forth from a labor of love was born the first ever representation of the United States in the form of licence plates and after being sold across the globe and represented in multiple museum collections for nearly two decades the 48 Plates still remains the only one made entirely of metal. Since then the artist has produced other popular incarnations including the 50 plates, California the Golden State and even other countries such as the Canada Plates. What has made the 48 Plates so successful is that it represents what Scott initially set out to do and that was to capture fond memories with his family so when he makes one for someone he tries to capture the meaningful aspects of each plate such as an iconic image or a memorable tagline from each state so in essence he achieves telling a narrative. He also likes to have a nice mixture of vintage and newer plates to give the composition history and a fun anecdote the artist likes to share is that collectively with each one made the owner will have a piece that has had on average of five million miles driven on it.

For questions or more information please email us at info@hansongalleryfineart.com or call us 415-332-1815.