Al Hogue’s painting technique, and his
philosophy, can be described in one word - light. The Old Renaissance
Masters, like Da Vinci and Rembrandt, recognized that light is
the reflection of nature, of life itself. Their paintings are
masterful portraits of life. Al Hogue has spent the last ten years
studying their technique. “I want viewers of my artwork
to feel as if the painting were glowing and radiating its own
light source. Light is everything in my paintings: Light is both
my primary technique and the symbol of God’s life giving,
healing nature. Light from the moon or the sun washes across all
my paintings. Light represents Life - the essence of all living
things, the spirit of nature.”
Al Hogue began drawing and painting as a way
of giving life to his own soothing daydreams of nature. Because
he suffered from severe dyslexia, learning to read and write was
excruciatingly painful. School was constantly a source of never-ending
stress. He was unable to communicate with words, so art became
his way of sharing with others from his earliest childhood. He
always wanted to draw his own secret world of peace and tranquility,
free from the stresses of life.
Even as a child, Al Hogue knew art improved his
life. But, it wasn’t until he was an adult, that he recognized
art also has the power to heal the mind and body of others. According
to Al Hogue, art can rejuvenate the human imagination and re-energize
a wilting human spirit. Al Hogue and his father painted the tranquility
of nature together as he battled two separate life-threatening
attacks of cancer. He recovered completely. He credits his recovery
to the healing power of rendering nature in art. It was only later
that Al discovered that many research studies have proven that
art can, and does, promote healing.
Al Hogue’s art was included in a research
study, testing the healing effect of art on hospital patients.
Previous research has established that Alpha brain waves stimulate
physiological healing. The test determined that his art induced
the largest measurable quantity of Alpha brain waves in test patients
shown images from hundreds of different artists. Because of the
result of that study, his art now decorates hundreds of patients’
rooms in U.S. hospitals.
"When I paint I travel to the peaceful
places of my imagination. I grow more serene. My heart rate appears
to slow down. My breathing becomes slow and rhythmic. The responsibilities
of modern life are put in perspective: they become much easier
to accept. I am reminded of what is important: family and the
beautiful grace of God’s nature. When communing with nature
on the canvas, peace and tranquility flow through me.”
Al Hogue is closer to his family and more in
tune with the heartbeat of the Earth, when he is painting nature’s
perfect harmony. He feels calmer and thinks more clearly. Peaceful
memories come flooding back, like, moonlit walks on the beach
with his wife.
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