Artist Bio
I was always a very curious kid. I wasn’t satisfied with just living in the world. I needed to understand how things worked and why.
Don’t ask me why I was this way. I don’t really know the answer to this question.
But what I can say is that this deep curiosity gave me a unique way of viewing the world and led to some very different life choices.
For example, like most children I always drew pictures. It was fun and the praise I got from my family and teachers was great.
But more than that, drawing became a powerful learning tool in my quest to make sense of the world around me.
So powerful was this tool and so driven was I to master it, that it was not long before I started gravitating to the logic and discipline of drafting and commercial drawing.
How many 14-year-olds do you know who earned a college-level diploma in product illustration? Well, you know one now.
It was a gift of oil paints by my grandmother in adolescence, though, that launched me on a long road to being a professional painter.
It was quite a surprise to me at the time. My grandmother was a very practical person due largely to necessity. She never got past the 8th grade and had to earn a living at a very early age.
Later on as a newlywed, she had to fend for herself while my grandfather went off to fight in World War I. And then she taught herself how to run a sundries shop that was the anchor of Main Street in her little town.
Never in a million years could I ever imagine that this tough, self-taught woman who suffered fools lightly would ever gift me oil paints.
And yet, from that tiny, surprising seed grew my lifelong love of making art.
I am thankful to this day for her gift, because creating art has served as both a refuge and an inspiration to me throughout my life.
During my military service in the Vietnam War, when I was the pilot of an airborne command post, and later when I was dealing with the stresses of medical training, my art offered me comfort and a sense of peace.
Today, I am grateful that I get to spend all my time doing what I love most, inspiring the same sense of comfort and peace through my art.
While you’re here, I’d like to share some suggestions with you for what to explore next:
- If you’d like to soak in the wonderful organic beauty in nature, then you should explore my Rural Landscapes collection.
EXPLORE MY RURAL LANDSCAPES COLLECTION - If you love the bustle and hum of city life, then you should explore my Urban Landscapes collection.
EXPLORE MY URBAN LANDSCAPES COLLECTION - And before you leave, don’t forget to join my Collectors Club. It will give us the chance to keep in touch, and you’ll be one of the first to know when I have new art to explore.
JOIN MY COLLECTORS CLUB
Thanks for stopping by!
All the best,
Gary Hoff
