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Alan Hogan - Fine Artist
Alan Hogan was born in Dublin City, Ireland. After finishing school in 1986 he worked as a clerical officer in the Irish Government for two years. He then graduated from the College of Marketing & Design, Dublin in 1990. Alan has spent most of his life so far living in Dublin city and suburbs. He moved to Ashbourne in County Meath (just north of Dublin) in 2003. Alan had been working in the print industry for a number of years until June 2007 when he decided to leave Ireland to live in Finland.
Nowadays Alan finds the weather and way of life a lot different. Language is a bit of a challenge too, as he has to deal with both Finnish and Swedish-speaking Finns. But he finds that they are a very kind and friendly people, which makes things a little easier for him. Alan now lives in a small town called Karjaa (or Karis in Swedish), southwest of Finland's capital Helsinki. This is where he continues to paint and explore his art.
About the Art
Alan Hogan's view of Art is that it is something that should be enjoyed by all types of people, whether young, old, modern or old-fashioned.
He says it is difficult to keep painting the same subjects, variety is very important to him. Unlike so many artists of the past and present, he wants to explore and discover more of what different people from different backgrounds view as good art. Of course Alan has a lot of admiration for many of todays artists as well as the great artists of the past.
Alan aims to develop a good relationship with people, whatever their background, by bringing to them a style of art that not only the artist but also the people can enjoy and understand. Alan also says that the styles of painting he uses may change now and then, simply because society and people change.
Alan says that most of the inspiration he gets for his paintings comes from two sources.
Firstly, it is good to keep up-to-date on what people want style-wise in their art. It is good to take inspiration from every aspect of art, from the ultra-modern to the old masters. Art can sometimes have a habit of rediscovery over new generations. It can reinvent itself using the same ingredients.
The same can be said for Alan's second source of inspiration which is music. Music is just as important as anything else to Alan when painting, as it can create a mood and influence how he feels. Alan reckons that music can sometimes make you want to leave a painting and go outside to enjoy the more important things like simply walking in the countryside or jumping in a lake.
