Interview with Frank Hoeffler
A native of Wisconsin, Frank Hoeffler began painting at an early age. He is a classically trained professional artist who graduated from The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Peck school of the Arts. His formal training included advanced studios and multiple artistic mediums. His style varies from realism, impressionism, expressionism, nonrepresentational, to abstraction.
Frank Hoeffler is one of ATM'S 60 International Master Artist's for 2022, 2023, and 2024. He received a very prestige's award from Arttour International Magazine at red-carpet, black-tie Galas in Manhattan, New York, His artwork was displayed on the NASDAQ electrical billboard in Time Square. He won the Titan Award, Master Artist of a New Era for 2024 and a documentary of his life will be made and shown at all national and international short film festivals. It can also be viewed on Apil tv, Roku and multiple other sources.
Frank Hoeffler has been Invited, over the years, to show in a multitude of national and international juried shows in major art museums and galleries across the country and in Europe since 1982.
Frank has judged and juried many art shows for artist guilds and art galleries, He is often asked to critique, demonstrate painting, and provide workshops as an instructor in and around Wisconsin. He also provides painting classes for adults throughout the winter months.
Over the decades, you have mastered and transitioned between various artistic styles and mediums, from realism to abstraction and nonrepresentational forms. Could you discuss it? The philosophical or emotional motivations behind these transitions. How do these changes reflect your personal growth or response to the evolving cultural or artistic landscape?
When I paint my realism, I paint on an easel. I feel as though I'm in my environment. I see the color. I see the water moving. I feel the breeze. My brush strokes and my color palette are driven by my emotions and all my senses. Sometimes I feel as though my canvas is three dimensional and I can push my brush all the way to the most distant space in the painting.
When I paint in my non-reputational style, I paint on the floor, that way I feel like I could fall right in the painting space. This style of painting, for me, is much more emotional. The strokes are intentional, they are planned, they are direct to the point! And the paint applied is usually impostor for a sense of strength! The painting is so much more of me, if people could read my paintings they would see my soul. My Abstract paintings represent my deepest thoughts and emotions
As a native of Wisconsin, how do you believe? Your upbringing and the local landscape have infused themselves into your artistic vision. Can you pinpoint any specific elements in your work that directly correlate with your geographical roots? And how have these elements evolved in your work overtime?
When I would drive the scenic winding roads in the small town of Muskego, Wisconsin, where I was born and raised, I was always looking at the colors of the lake, the woods I use to explore the wheat fields and how they would change color when the wind came through. I remember the barns I saw, the noises of the birds, the paths I drove, the walks I took the rivers I skipped rocks on, all those things represent happiness, serenade, peacefulness, to me. I try to incorporate all that emotion into my paintings. The paintings that I do, with the palette I chose, represent the peace and contentment that I feel taking in the view, I hope my realistic paintings help the viewer look closer the next time they take a walk in the woods.
You have received significant recognition for your work, notably being named one of ATIMs. 60 International Master Artists for 2022,2023, 2024I, in your view, what responsibilities, if any, do artists have to society? How can artists contribute to social change or dialogue through their work?
Artists have the responsibility to express their feelings, their emotions, their vision as they see the world. They use brushes and palette knives to incorporate their emotions. The slightest detail of the strokes can tell the whole story. They show the world that everyone feels emotion. Artists know how to express their feelings using color and line. The size of the peace of work can be used to express their feelings about the severity of their subject matter The job of an artist is to inspire people, to wake people up, to get them to appreciate the beauty all around them, and to look for the details everywhere. Artists use their medium to document their emotions, their views, the details. Most importantly, we use color to stimulate people to think about the society we live in. You can look at a painting and you understand the emotions and feelings of the artist or, create your own story.
Having taught and ventured countless artists through workshops and classes, what do you believe is the most crucial aspect of fostering artistic talent in others? How do you approach the challenge? Of teaching art that balances technical skill with personal expression.
I taught and currently teach adult I can't do it.students. I want them to express their inner self. I want them to be in touch with their inner feelings, to know that however they feel, if it's positive, negative, however we inspire each other that bring it out on canvas. Bring it out in your median, whatever 1 you choose. And you know, you don't necessarily have to be so technical. You could just be fluid sometimes. Just close your eyes and let the canvas and the color and the brush stroke do the work for you. Believe most importantly in your skill. And how you represent to others because it is our job to constantly stay motivated and to always be stimulating and encouraging, learning and growing and. My students even helped me to do that myself. #5IN my career, I have changed my styles. My techniques, my views, my thinking, my palette, even the tools that I use when I paint. I am always open to my critics opinion because if it doesn't agree with mine. They helped me to see through their eyes. And just because I. I have a thought when I paint a painting, it's always wonderful to hear how it inspires somebody else and what they feel through my emotions of artwork. OK, that's can I stop there? That's fine. And I'll do the other five later.
Throughout your career, you have engaged extensively with critics and audiences in various forms. How do you reconcile your artistic intent with the Diverse Interpretations and critiques of your work? Can you share an insight or a critic? Significantly influenced your subsequent creations?
Well, as far as reconciling. My artistic intent. With different critics and audiences. I simply. Remain open. To all criticism. Good or bad? I really never have had a hard time accepting. Critics of my work. In fact, I appreciate it and I look forward to them. Whether it stirs positive or negative reactions. I treat the people critiquing my work as I would. When I'm critiquing other people's work. I always. Charge. Shows. Objectively. I look for subject matter first. Does the person know how to handle the medium therein? Watercolor Oils. Squash. And do they represent the peace properly and proudly? Using quality. Framing. So I. Show my work the same way to judges. I feel if you believe it's important enough to show. In a gallery or in a contest. Then you need to treat it professionally. And have it presented professionally. Ask for a Critique. Of my work. The one and only. Kritika, I've never forgotten. Is when I showed my mentor. A collection. Of my. Work. She actually stopped in her place. Looked around at the five paintings. And said they're opulent. To be truthful, I had to go home and look up the word. I knew what it meant, but I wanted to find out how she used it. And after that? She said. Quote Ask yourself the right question before you start to paint. And then paint. Quote And I have ever since.
Your work often navigates the complex interplay between abstraction and realism. Could you delve into your creative process for starting a new piece? How do you decide which style or media best suits the message or emotion you wish to convey?
Actually this is an easy question. As you know, I paint non representational abstract impressionism, expressionism. And realistic. The subject matter. Tells me what to use. Oil or watercolor. Which way to go Abstract realism. Etcetera. After about. Three weeks. Of working on these details over and over again in my head. I decided to paint.and I paint and paint and paint until I'm done talking about the subject matter. So if it's realism and I'm painting orchids. I might come up with 25 orchids paintings. And then I'm usually mentally exhausted and. I don't paint for about a week or so. It's a lot of mental work that goes into painting. When I start, I have to decide what brushes I'm gonna use, what colors I'm gonna use. What strokes am I gonna use? Every time I go to grab paint, there's more and more decisions. So it's exhausting. Exciting and exhilarating. But exhausting. At the same time.
Considering your extensive body of work and its recognition, how do you approach the concept of? Legacy and the preservation of your art. Are There are specific ways. You wish your work to be experienced or understood by future generations.
I do think about. Legacy. And preservation. And all the art that I do. I only use professional. Archival 500 year canvases. 500 year. Archival watercolor paper. The best oil paints. The best watercolor paints. In order to. Keep the painting Pristine. For as long as. Icon. I hope that future generations. Will appreciate. Did I have to paint? I loved paint. And I always will paint. And that's for. My OV. Comes from.
Over the years, what have been some of the most challenging projects who have undertaken and why? Could you discuss a project that stands out? As a significant. Personal or professional milestone? And the story behind it.
Well, one of the most challenging projects that I am most proud of. Have everything else in my career. Is being asked. To be an adjunct art teacher. For the Germantown High School. Art class. The teacher collected the 30 students that were interested in going on. In art. And wanted to know if I would come. And inspire them and teach them. Or give them an advance. Knowledge of. What an artist does. I met with the students after school for about an hour the first day. And I told them. I had an assignment for them. That half of them would paint. An abstract painting for interior and the other half would paint a painting for the exterior of the school. So they should divide themselves up, which they did. And then the assignment was. Come back to our next session. With either a written or a drawing. Of what this phrase means to you. And the phrase is. The path they've taken. All the students came back with. Really cool. Concepts. I talked with the art teachers, told them that. Students were going to paint abstract painting for the inside and one for the outside. The teacher said we have this big wall across from the cafeteria that they can use, and I said no, you wanted an art project. That's a mural. These kids are going to paint. A painting. And canvas. And using oils. And the students for the outdoor are gonna paint on exterior plywood. With acrylic paint. So the teachers agreed. Asked me what I needed. I said you need to have the students stretch. 7 canvases. 6 feet long. By 4 feet wide. And you need to have. The school. Put together 44 by 8 sheets of exterior plywood. For the outside project. The next meeting, the canvases were perfectly stretched. And the. 48 seats were. Put together. We threw down tarps in the hallway. And put all 7 stretched canvases together end to end. It ended up being 42 feet long by 4 feet wide. And then we cocked the canvases just off. A little bit of each one where they met. So when you put it together, the lines on one canvas would be just shy of meeting the other canvas's lines. We used lines in order to. Show the progression. Of their four years in high school. When they came in. And by the time they left? So the painting is full of lines, different colors, packed lines across. The first couple of canvases. And then some of those lines get less complicated through the next set. And then they get less complicated through the next set and by the less canvas. There's a couple of straight lines. The lines Represented. The choices. That they wanted to take. An experience. And by the time they were seniors. That is the Next path. In their life they should take. Be it an artist. A plumber. An electrician. And they got to this point in their life because they tried all the other things in their early years of high school. Gradually, they dropped away. And the lines represent that. Outside painting. Had the same theme. Only they used. Abstractions of. Different careers that were available. And left it open. So that in their senior year. They would know what to do. When everything was done, I contacted all kinds of. School superintendents, our teachers and the different schools around here. The Press. Our congressman, the governor of Wisconsin, as he was so into education. And invited them. To an art opening. I wanted the kids to realize. How important this is? So the night of the opening, parents and friends and some press came to the cafeteria we had. Appetizers. And sodas. People mingled and talked. After about 10 minutes. We got the room's attention. I explained why I was there, what I was asked to do. And I introduced. The kids. Spokesperson for the indoor painting explained. The painting and the spokesperson for the outdoor one did the same. Then we all gathered in the hallway where it was hanging. 42 feet long. I had it covered with sheets. And then I had the kids pulled the sheets down. Everybody was amazed. I was clapping and photography and. The kids were so proud. We went outside. We gathered in this courtyard. The painting was covered in sheets. I asked the school to put spotlights on it. They did. And the kids pulled the sheets down. And again. There was awe, clapping, cheering. The kids were extremely proud. And they should be. I wanted them to experience. Their first opening? Hopefully. Most of them are still painting. When the R teachers contacted me the first time and asked me to do this. I was extremely. Proud of the fact that they asked me. Ends that. I could help mentor. Even for a short time. These kids that were so excited about art. I loved it.
Having been honored at a prestigious gala by Art Tour International magazine, how do you perceive the role of awards and public recognition in an artist career? Do you feel they alter the intrinsic value or perception of art?
I sincerely believe. That the awards and the public recognition. In an artist career. Is extremely important. There are so many artists out there. That would just like to be. Published in a book. Or. When an honorable mention. Are even best of show. What's the artwork? I do believe it helps give credibility. To the artist's work. And it is so important. Because those are awards and recognitions. Help get the word out about your work. And people can't enjoy it. If they don't know about it. And I do feel. At the awards. Does alter. The intrinsic value of the heart. The more exposure you get. Tomorrow words you get. Definitely increases the value. Of the work.
