Al Hogue | Hawaii landscape painter

Al Hogue | Hawaii landscape painter
My painting technique, and my 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. I have 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. I began drawing and painting as a way of giving life to my own soothing daydreams of nature. Because I suffered from severe dyslexia, learning to read and write was excruciatingly painful. School was constantly a source of never-ending stress. I was unable to communicate with words, so art became my way of sharing with others from my earliest childhood. I always wanted to draw my own secret world of peace and tranquility, free from the stresses of life. My father and I 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 I discovered that many research studies have proven that art can, and does, promote healing. 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. Art has the power to improve your life. Allow the Light of nature, of life, to wash over your body and soul.