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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Artist brightens large walls with paintings


Tom Hanson has painted an nonobjective piece that hangs in his Spokane Valley home. 
 (The Spokesman-Review)
Jennifer Larue Correspondent

Tom Hanson has turned his passion for painting into a lucrative endeavor.

“You ‘gotta wanna’ do this real bad and go out and make it happen,” he said, and for the past 29 years, he has been making it happen, selling his large acrylic paintings to corporations, medical centers, galleries and individuals.

Most recently, he completed a collection of 10 original canvases for the new Panhandle State Bank in Coeur d’Alene. The pieces bring the outdoors in with large waterfalls, trees and wildlife.

“It’s OK to create work for the sense of occupying space,” Hanson said. “It’s a decorative art form that serves a mission, thus becoming a commercial entity.”

His favorite subjects are landscapes that contain dramatic cloud formations, sunrises or sunsets. He also enjoys painting abstracts.

He grew up in Great Falls, Mont., surrounded by brushes and paints in his father’s sign shop, where he learned the commercial aspects of the visual arts. That, combined with his exposure to the works of cowboy artist Charlie Russell, started Hanson on his journey to making a living from painting.

Hanson attended college in Montana, studying film and television, theater arts and fine art, but, instead of graduating, the “gotta wanna” bug bit and he moved on to pursue his career.

He began working on commissioned paintings before moving to Spokane to market his paintings at Expo ‘74, where he landed a job with the entertainment department as an on-site production manager. He also began selling his paintings.

He went on to become a roadie for the Harry James Orchestra and moved to Hollywood. He traveled to hundreds of cities with several acts.

Later he worked for the Scenic Artist Union in Los Angeles, and began marketing his paintings.

He then moved back to Montana, where he produced and marketed his work to surrounding areas. Some of his high-profile customers in our area include the Boeing Co., Rockwood Clinic, Shea Construction and the Jacklin Seed Co.

He spent two years in Maui, painting and marketing, before settling in Spokane Valley about a year ago.

“Spokane is a good base,” he said, “and it’s always felt like home.”

His garage studio is equipped with oversize handmade easels on wheels for large canvases. There is a table where he plans out proposals, presentations and designs for any given space.

When he’s not working in his studio, he’s visiting with architects, business owners, corporations and individual clients, constantly searching for big walls, and doing all that he can to spread a passion for art into the corporate world or any other environment in need of color, life and personality.