Michele Hausman has been a full time artist creating oil landscape paintings for nearly thirty years. Her strong use of color is commented on by collectors and art appreciators. Living on California’s Central Coast, she is inspired by the vibrant colors of the sea, the golden hills, and the autumn vines as they turn crimson and auburn.

Hausman believes that painting is a life-long journey of learning to see. She paints to put her passion for her subject into the visual language of painting. She is concerned about the preservation of open spaces that offer all of us solace. It is her intent that her paintings inspire viewers to appreciate the natural beauty around us. Being a resident of coastal California, she makes frequent plein air excursions to further her experience of painting where the land meets the sea. In her Soquel studio, Hausman expands her studies made on location to larger paintings. Hausman travels with her art materials in tow. In addition to her primary goal of creating and selling original oil paintings, she has also taught painting in classes and workshops and licensed her work for publications and promotional posters.

Hausman continues to be involved in the arts community of the Central California area. In 2001, Hausman co-founded the Santa Cruz Oil Painters (SCOP), and is the current president. Hausman is a signature member of the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association (MBPAPA) and served as exhibition chairperson for 2 years. Hausman has been curator for many art exhibitions over the 30 years of her career as a professional artist. She enjoys working on exhibitions of a collaborative nature with other artists and organizations.

Hausman has also demonstrated her art making process for art organizations in the SF and Monterey Bay Areas. Working with other artists to present work to the public has increased her organizational skills and her interest in interacting with the public around art making.

Hausman works to nurture and expand her circle of collectors through exhibitions, her website, and a periodic e-newsletter. She seeks to inform about art making as well as her exhibit schedule. Her newsletter now reaches well over 1000 recipients, many of whom reside in the greater Bay Area. Sharing her art and love of the natural world with others brings her great joy.

"I am inspired by the natural world. Small paintings are created in plein air, in the open air, where all my senses are engaged in an effort to capture the mood of the light on my canvas. I think of these paintings as windows onto the harbors, wetlands, beaches, and farmlands that make up the Central California Coast. I seek to evoke nature as a calming, healing force in a world that is often unpredictable."
Excerpt from Impressions of the Natural World, (c) 2012 by Michele Hausman