Artist Profile – Terri Hogan

Terri is someone whose art has been and remains a central part in her life both as a teacher and a practitioner. After school, where her interest in Art was not particularly encouraged, she went to Redland College in Bristol, a college which is part of the University of the West of England. There she studied Art and trained as a teacher. Again, sadly, she did not find the course there particularly inspiring, but used her time to follow her own artistic path and develop her skills.

On graduating she spent time teaching Art in some of Bristol’s tougher maintained schools. She then moved to the independent Bruton School for Girls. There, in a very different environment, she taught in the Art department for over twenty years, loving her job and helping to build up what became widely known as an exceptional Art department where her students were able to achieve the highest standards. As a result several were able to go on to study Art further and develop a range of Art based careers. Several of her students became friends and remain in touch with her still.

As a teacher Terri also decided to widen her skills by studying and teaching Ceramics and black and white photography to A level. Like many photographers she now finds the smartphone is able to help her make arresting high-quality im- ages which she publishes as cards. She does not however use her photographs as a basis for her paintings, preferring to keep the two media sep- arate. For her paintings she relies on drawing in the landscape and loves going out in all weath- ers, the wilder the weather the better, to produce mixed media drawings which she then works from to create her paintings.

Terri is an artist whose encounter with the sea expresses a deeply emotional reaction of wonder and awe and is something she has found central and overwhelming. The resulting paintings are neither completely abstract nor figuratively realistic but retain elements which are both, as she explores its power and many moods. Her on the spot drawings are followed up by several paintings worked on as a series.

She also echoes the sea and coastal landscape in her exploration of mixed media and her use of textures and, frequently includes materials such as sand and cliff spoil from the location on canvas, paper and board. She then often returns to her works to change and adapt after a time of reflection, though always mindful that it is a fine line between finishing and overworking a painting.

Teaching Art properly in a school is extremely demanding, and though Terri loved her time at BSG, she felt she needed to stop teaching full time so that she could concentrate on her own work and spend much more time visiting and ex- ploring the coast of Cornwall. There she has been drawing, painting and taking photographs assiduously and in doing so she has been very successful in exhibiting widely and selling work in a range of different galleries and with her own personal shows. She has been particularly successful during Somerset Art Weeks working from and exhibiting at her studio at Shave Farm in South Brewham near Bruton. During the lockdowns and over the past 2 years Terri has worked continuously, filling sketch books, exploring new materials and creating paintings, she participated in the Matthew Burroughs ‘Support the Artist Pledge’, and was recently invited by Symonds and Sampson to supply an image for use as their catalogue cover.

Teaching Art properly in a school is extremely demanding, and though Terri loved her time at BSG, she felt she needed to stop teaching full time so that she could concentrate on her own work and spend much more time visiting and ex- ploring the coast of Cornwall. There she has been drawing, painting and taking photographs assiduously and in doing so she has been very successful in exhibiting widely and selling work in a range of different galleries and with her own personal shows. She has been particularly successful during Somerset Art Weeks working from and exhibiting at her studio at Shave Farm in South Brewham near Bruton. During the lockdowns and over the past 2 years Terri has worked continuously, filling sketch books, exploring new materials and creating paintings, she participated in the Matthew Burroughs ‘Support the Artist Pledge’, and was recently invited by Symonds and Sampson to supply an image for use as their catalogue cover.

Instagram: terri_hogan6938

Website: www.terrihogan.co.uk

RWA – Artists Network Member,

Penwith Society of Artists – Associate Member

Member of Somerset Art Works,

Member of Wessex Contemporary Arts

John Baxter