We recently connected with Josh Hogge and have shared our conversation below.

Josh, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I started college at Oklahoma Panhandle State University as a CIS student pursuing a minor in graphics. Technology really sparked my curiosity for success in the arts. It seemed realistic and obtainable. But, as any good story starts, our plan and our hearts take us in two directions. I had to take a 3D traditional arts class as an elective for my graphics degree and a sculpture class was available. The course was sculpture in ceramics so they wanted prior experience with a ceramics one course. Since I was a graphics major they allowed me to skip the requirement. I wasn’t expecting what happened next. After being assigned a relief tile sculpture I was pretty excited for the new materials. I was coming up in my free time to experiment on other things. Our second project was sculpting a bust of a friend. The assignment was a three week project I finished in a day because i couldn’t wait to finish it so I used all my extra time to accomplish a finished bust. My professors seemed impressed that I’ve never used clay before and I was pleasantly surprised with my bust that looked just like my roommate. By the next week I was begging for new prompts and creating more than I ever have. Eventually through the semester I was rushing through my graphics classes to go to the art department to learn more traditional techniques of art. This obsession lead me to switching my major to art in sculpture and an emphases in ceramics. One of my professors did pottery shows in the summer to sell and needed a new student assistant. He saw my drive and took me under his wing for his knowledge of selling art at craft shows and other techniques. I spent the summer analyzing his techniques and the way he handles clay on the potters wheel. When August rolled around I built enough confidence to create something on the potters wheel for the first time. It was 6 hefty tumblers that were about 9 inches tall. At the time I didn’t realize how impressive that was for a first time pottery wheel experience but it was the spark that lead me into my journey as a professional artist. The only regret I have is that I wasn’t brave enough to just be a traditional artist going into artist. I came from poverty with little family support. Thinking that I could make something out of myself with a career path in art was daunting. As I learned more and began making my own connections life didn’t make sense to me without my art, I pursued the field of teaching to help me sustain my growing art sales and eventually learned the working habits to do both my teaching career and my art career. Learning art came to me naturally but shuffling my passions has been the most difficult aspect of my need to be in the field of art. My journey will come to a point where I have to choose but currently I work hard to do both teaching and art full time.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m definitely one of the success stories you don’t hear about much. Growing up there was a lot of diversity, abuse, moving around and minimal family support. It’s something that proves to be difficult to handle even as an adult. But, my journey in art was possible through low income scholarships that lead me to learn art practices and art marketing skills at Oklahoma panhandle state university. I’ve learned and developed skills in Acrylic & watercolor painting, ink techniques, and specialize in pottery and sculpture. I have developed a lot of practices in social media with my online presence of “Josh Hogge Arts” doing art process videos and art personality entertainment in social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. I share a lot of tips and tricks in my work as well as start to finish of art pieces that I produce. My main products I sell at art shows are ceramic from decorative, fine art, to highly functional. My main goals in my business are to share my passion for art, share my unique personality in creating art and to hopefully inspire others to create their own art. I spend a lot of time shaping young minds in public schools and use all my other time to pursue my art business but eventually I would like to do social media and my art business full time. I’m constantly looking to give back to my followers/fans and look forward to the journey in which they lead me.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My second year into my art degree I lost my living situation. I ended up being homeless but instead of just dropping out and leaving college I packed my bag and put it behind the sofa in the art department lounge put my bathroom bag in the art cubby I had and showered at the dorms on campus. I was homeless for almost three months pursuing my art degree. It took that long for the custodian to top off my professors of my situation because it wasn’t uncommon for me to fall asleep on the couch working on projects late at night in the studios so it wasn’t questioned. I was the studio aide. Once they figured out what was going on I was asked to do some office work in one of their offices and the whole professor staff that wasn’t in class was present. I was terrified. I thought the battle was over and they were going to kick me out of the program. But, something that I’ve never experienced before happened. They apologized that they took so long to notice and that I should have asked for help. The way I was raised we don’t ask people for help. My professors not only got me a dorm under scholarships but they bought me new clothes and food and got me to a place where I could continue to pursue my degree. Not only was this a big obstacle to being the art teacher, art influencer, and artists that I chose to be today but it also showed me that people can be good and love is real. I am forever thankful for my college experience and pay honor to it by pursuing my artist dreams to my fullest.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I feel like the best thing society could do for artists is to experience art. If every person in the world had a connective experience with art, they would understand the importance of it and the need for it in our communities. Our communities would be abundant in their own unique cultures as the communities came together to express their own unique expressions and visual illustrations. I think the average person would be more in tune with their community and peers. If we had a community that saw each other and were comfortable in expressing their selves without the stim of mundane and toxic “pop” culture. The world would be happier and much brighter.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Joshhoggearts.com
• Instagram: Josh Hogge Arts
• Facebook: Josh Hogge Arts
• Youtube: Josh Hogge Arts