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Kimberley artist hosting JulyFest show

George Hogg, whose paintings have been showcased around the world, is hosting a JulyFest art show
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Much of George Hogg’s art is inspired by local landscapes, such as this one titled ‘Early Morning’ in Kootenay Park.

A lifetime of stories hangs on the walls of George and Isabel Hogg’s home in Kimberley.

George Hogg, an internationally renowned painter, will have his artwork displayed throughout his home during the JulyFest weekend on July 20-22.

Hogg, whose work has been featured in galleries across Canada, the United States and into Europe, is inspired by local landscapes that are easily recognizable by locals familiar with the East Kootenay.

Some observers can pick out Bootleg Mountain range, with the painting of St. Mary Lake in the background, while others feature areas such as Kootenay Park, Sheep Creek and Bull River.

Hogg is pretty prolific too.

Over the course of his artistic career that spans decades, he has logged every single one of his pieces.

1,745 to be exact.

Depending on the size of the canvas, a piece can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, with a rough average of 35-40 paintings over 10 months. He takes a break over July and August to step away from the easel to recharge and find inspiration.

Much of that two-month break includes lots of hiking and camping trips, where he constantly makes pencil sketches in a notebook that is always by his side.

Eventually — sometimes even years later — he’ll revisit the sketches and turn them into a full acrylic painting.

Over the years, his award-winning paintings have been featured in juried art shows and galleries across Western Canada and northwestern United States, winning many awards. Some of those include Best Work on Canvas - Trails West Art Show, Best of Show (as chosen by the artists) - National Western Art Show, while museums including Favell Museum and CM Russell Museum have bought paintings for permanent collections.

Additionally, he has also been featured in magazines and publications from as far away as Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.

Hogg, after graduating high school in Kimberley, attended the Vancouver Art Institute (now known as Emily Carr University of Art and Design) for two years, and got his first big break with a painting of the Bull River with Bull Mountain and the Steeples in the background, which won a prestigious award

That painting was featured in the Alex Fraser Gallery in Vancouver, which caught the eye of a multinational corporation headquartered in Great Britain, which bought it and featured it on a company calendar that was distributed world wide.

Hogg also had a painting of the Hoodoos in 1966 featured in Beautiful British Columbia magazine.

“That got me into a lot of galleries,” said Hogg.

While much of Hogg’s work includes natural landscapes, he has also been inspired by architecture and street scenes during trips overseas to Europe as well as Mexico.

The couple also spent roughly 10 years touring around Western Canada and Northwestern USA attending many Indigenous powwows, sometimes as many as ten over the course of a summer.

Those opportunities inspired many, many portraits of Indigenous Peoples dressed up in their colourful cultural finery along with establishing a lifetime of friendships.

The Hoggs will open their home for the art show at 554 Church Ave. in Kimberley during the JulyFest weekend on Friday, July 20 and Saturday, July 21, from 1-8 p.m.

The show will also run Sunday, July 22, from 1-5 p.m.

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Trevor Crawley

About the Author: Trevor Crawley

Trevor Crawley has been a reporter with the Cranbrook Townsman and Black Press in various roles since 2011.
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