|
"Do you remember when you were a child and used
to believe that fairies lived in your grandmother's garden?
As a little girl, I used to believe there was an enchanted
"witching hour" after the sun melted behind the ivy-covered
garden walls and the dew began to collect on the flowers and
lawn. During this magical time, I waited for the fairies to
come out to play with the water sprites that lived in the
birdbath to the nocturnal orchestra of frogs and crickets..."
While the childhood fantasy and memories of fairy garden parties and full moon gnome sightings have vanished through the years, the whimsical notion and love of fairies and fantasy are kept alive through the original artwork of California-based artist, Erin Hogan.
Growing up primarily in the rural foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Erin spent most of her time exploring the nearby woods, planting fairy gardens with gathered seeds and saplings, reading Fairy Tales and painting and sculpting in her attic art studio. Erin started drawing and painting at a very young age, often drawing fairies, frogs and mermaids or scenes from her favorite fairy tales. Over the years, the clumsy crayon frogs and construction paper refrigerator 'masterpieces' have evolved into series of flowers, surreal dreamscapes, abstracted portraiture and of course, the all-important fairy and water sprite.
Frog Pond, Age 6
|
|
Mermaid Lagoon, Age 6
|
|
Purple Fairy, Age 7
|
The surreal and vibrant energy of Erin's artwork can be attributed to her love of nature, fantasy and the uninhibited innocence of the childhood imagination. Erin earned her Bachelors Degree in Journalism with a minor in Fine Art from California State University, Sacramento in 1998. Later, she integrated the non-verbal communication and the healing properties of art, earning her Masters Degree in Communication Studies from San Diego State University the spring of 2003.
While Sigmund Freud remains one of her favorite psychologists and 'controversial' theorists, dreams and Freudian concepts strongly influence the inspiration and composition of many of Erin's paintings. In fact, many of Erin's paintings are derived from her dreams, which are documented in dream journals, transcribed from jottings, sketches and free-association word clusters.
Erin is currently illustrating her first children's book (this has been an evolving and creation-in-the-making for over ten years), compiling a fairy calendar and lives happily-ever-after in San Diego with her "Prince Charming", two spirited elfin tots, and their feline "fur children" Tyler and Mr. P.
|
