Alexandre Hogue

Dust Bowl
(1933)

"I was raised on a ranch in the Dust Bowl and I was there when the dust storm hit . . . . To me, as an artist, it was beautiful in a terrifying way.  I painted it for that terrifying beauty."

Alexandre Hogue

American Painter

1898 - 1994

Erosion No. 2 Mother Earth Laid Bare
1936

Sometimes our subject matter chooses us.  The events of the times we live in impact and change our creative output.  The subjects we choose to paint or write about are found in the world around us.  Those who have experienced war as a civilian or soldier will bring that experience to their paintings and writings.  Those who experience the violent wrath of Mother Nature will be drawn to paint those images.  How much has your creative work been influenced by the times in which you live?  

My writing has been influenced and impacted by the fact that I lived through the turbulent 1960's from the protest marches to the hippies.  I experienced the death of God movement and the rise of Black Power.  I lived through the decade that saw the assassinations  of John, Bobby and Martin.  To some extent I am a child of the times and that is reflected in my art and whom I have become as a person.

What external forces have shaped your art and given it focus and meaning?  For some the first decade of the 21st century will define their art and who they become.  For some global warming and the extreme weather conditions will define their art.  To some extent, we are all products of our times.  

The Crucified Land
(1939)

Frederick Franck

"I have learned that what I have not drawn, I have not really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing, I realize how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle."

— Frederick Franck

Dutch Painter, Sculptor, Author

1909 - 2006

What we know of the world we know through our senses.  Yet, we often spend so much time in our head with our thoughts that we don't experience the world around us.  Have you ever walked past a flower, a tree or a stream a hundred times and yet know nothing of the stream, or tree or flower.  What have you missed in the world around you because you are so busy thinking about your life, your problems or your family?  When you begin to see the tree as it is, will you paint it in a different way.  Franck also said, "Drawing is the discipline by which I constantly rediscover the world."  Are you rediscovering the world around you through your drawing?

Do you hear the conversations of your friends and family members or are you so busy thinking about what you are going to say that you fail to listen to them.  A writer of dialogue must listen to the language used by the people around him.  Do you see how the people around you dress?  The way they carry themselves?  How they move about the room?  It is through the behavior we see that we find the clues to who the person is.  And it is through the behavior we describe that our readers know our characters.

Marcel Proust

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

 

— Marcel Proust

French Novelist

1871 - 1922

For some people the environment is crucial to their happiness.  They let where they live affect their emotional life.  And there is some truth to the fact.  Cloudy days can bring people down.  Long winters give some people cabin fever.  Others need the mountains or the ocean or the prairie.  How does your environment affect you as an artist?  Does it inspire your creativity?  Does it make you hopeful?  Does it make you happy?

For other people like Proust and myself, the environment is less important?  I can create anywhere.  I can sit in a shopping mall and write poetry.  I can sit in a church and write.  As I write these words I am sitting in a hotel in South Carolina.  And the environment rarely affects my mood or happiness.  I love the mountains, the ocean and the prairie, but I don't need them to be happy.  I live inside my head.  Can you create anywhere?  Or must you be in a certain place?  A certain mood?  A special environment?

Henry Moore

"The observation of nature is part of an artist's life."

— Henry Moore

English Sculptor

1898 - 1986

How much is your art connected to nature?  Do you spend time observing the shapes and patterns within nature?  Do you study nature and learn from it?  

When I spent seven years writing and studying haiku, I spent time connecting with the physical world around me — listening to nature.  I would take walks and write haiku.  Even those of us who live in cities are a part of nature.  Here is a haiku that I wrote while walking around Chicago.

downtown Chicago

     a squirrel buries apples —

          warm autumn sun

As creative leaders, we must look for inspiration in nature whether we write novels, paint abstract paintings or compose music.  Nature has much to teach us about ourselves and the world in which we live.  Watch the rabbits playing in your backyard.  Enjoy the beauty of a sunset.  Take a walk and feel the snowflakes on your cheeks.

Oval With Points
(1968 - 1970)

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world, I thank God I am alive."

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

American Poet/Essayist

1803 - 1882

I am fortunate that I have a yard that is full of birds, squirrels and rabbits.  And occasionally, a deer or a family of ducks have found the time to visit.  And our yard has maple trees, a large old pin oak and a few blue spruce.  Even in a metropolitan city I can find nature close at hand.  As creative leaders, we can and should find inspiration in nature.  I am amazed at how strong and resilient Mother Nature is.  If you have ever observed grass poking up through a crack in the concrete, you understand what I mean.  Long after the last man or woman has passed onto a better place, Mother Nature will still be there.

For me, the ironic thing is that human beings talk about nature as if we are not a part of it, only observers.  In fact, we are very much a part of nature.  And contrary to the opinion of many, Mother Nature is stronger and tougher than man.  I remember reading a study of overcrowded deer on an island.  The overcrowding generated unusual behavior among the deer such as increased fighting, rape and homosexuality.  Nature sought to reduce the overpopulation through disease.  In the end nature will win so we need to enjoy it while we can.

Photograph by Johari King

As artists and writers, we need to find joy, solace and inspiration in nature.  We need to enjoy the sunsets and the sunrises.  We need to appreciate the changing of seasons from fall to winter to spring.  The squirrels and rabbits in my backyard bring me pleasure and laughter with their play.  I have seen rabbits play leap frog, jumping over each other.  I have watched squirrels chasing each other up a tree.  And you will find both the rabbits and the squirrels in my haiku and my poetry.


Here are a few of my haiku.  More of my haiku can be found at my website.


downtown Chicago
    a squirrel buries apples —
        warm autumn sun




Illinois farmland —
    pheasant scoots across the snow
        the pickup heads home




early morning —
    two robins play leap frog
        in the shadows




on the corn tassels
    a flock of purple martins. . . 
        summer sunset