“Sometimes you don’t know what you’re capable of until you just do it.” — B.A. Hohman
DREAMSCAPE
Today is the summer solstice, a new breath of transition, and this turning point, both reliable and spontaneous, sets the stage of our Tiny Gallery show of the month. “WILLY NILLY” by B.A. Hohman is a show rife with verve.
Tiny Gallery Manager Christina Xan sat down to talk with Hohman about her life, as a human and artist, and what led up to this show.
Jasper: We’ve known each other for a couple years now, but we’ve never talked much about your past—will you tell me a bit about your childhood?
Hohman: I grew up in the era following the end of WWII. My paternal grandparents and my maternal great grandparents were German Lutheran immigrants who settled in northeastern Ohio. My parents were hard-working middle-class people who wanted the best for their three children. I was third in line and a bit of an anomaly, being the decidedly right brained one in the mix. I explored imaginary worlds, loved to read and draw, play with neighborhood friends, and was the consummate tom boy. We grew up in a time when we had the run of the neighborhood with no immediate parental supervision. We were one of the last generations to experience the freedom that comes with no internet, no cell phones—the fifties were a time of hope and new horizons.
Jasper: Hope and new horizons—I love that! Was art one of the things on the horizon? Did it exist around you growing up?
Hohman: Art was not a prevalent theme in our home. Basic needs outweighed luxuries, yet I must applaud my father for his exemplary carpentry skills, becoming a volunteer fireman and eventually working in the Emergency Room at our local hospital in addition to his full-time work at General Electric. Kudos to my mother for always encouraging my creative endeavors while teaching nursery school for 40 years. She recognized my artistic nature, enrolled me in summer art classes, urged me to join the youth choir, took me on weekly visits to the library, and introduced me to museums. I also had wonderful art instructors as well as some amazing English teachers throughout my middle and secondary level schooling.
Teaching Art was instrumental in my own art education. It forced me to break down all the components inherent in the creative process and thereby expanded my own abilities.
Jasper: And did you pursue art in college as well?
Hohman: Yes. My parents worked hard to provide us every opportunity to succeed. We were expected to excel and eventually get a college degree despite the financial burden, and all three of us did. My decision to pursue a degree in Art, I am sure was met with some skepticism. Studio Art at Ohio University became my college concentration from the very start, although English Literature classes nearly outweighed my time in the studio.
MAGNOLIA
Jasper: And at some point after graduation, you started teaching, right?
Hohman: My art took a back seat during the years of raising two girls, but my husband and I constantly found collaborative creative outlets. We had moved from Ohio to West Columbia and then to LeRoy, NY in 1981. The girls were still in elementary when I returned to school at Roberts Wesleyan College and completed my teaching certification. I did my student teaching at my girls’ Wolcott St. School and at Churchville Chilli High School, continuing for a long-term substitute position. I then taught at a local Catholic school. After moving back to West Columbia, I taught art at Pine Ridge Middle School and Airport High School. Teaching Art was instrumental in my own art education. It forced me to break down all the components inherent in the creative process and thereby expanded my own abilities.
Jasper: Oh, I’m all about the breaking down of boundaries. Tell me about how you moved full force into art.
Hohman: In 1999, I made the decision to leave teaching and embark on a career as a muralist and trompe l’oeil artist. A local designer gave me my first opportunity to showcase my work, and business took off! I have painted more murals in more houses than I can count. Although daunting to go from a canvas to painting entire walls and rooms as well as the exterior of a few businesses, I dove in and found it so liberating. I also discovered that I had the ability to paint just about anything my clients wanted. Sometimes you don’t know what you’re capable of until you just do it. I painted everything from whimsical and realistic animals in children’s’ rooms to huge 360-degree historical panoramas in varying styles, and faux windows, doorways and panels that fool the eye into thinking a flat surface is three dimensional. I often surprised myself.
THE SOUP
Jasper: Within those different projects, and today, what types of mediums did, and do, you explore?
Hohman: Over the years, I have explored many mediums, styles, and subject matter, but acrylic painting remains my staple. It was my concentration in college, and it has remained my comfort zone. I found I do not have the patience necessary to work in oil, but all other mediums interest me from pencil and charcoal to marker and colored pencil to clay. My style varies with each project. I look forward to again working in clay and creating 3D pieces as soon as I give myself a refresher course and get my kiln running.
Jasper: Well, on that note, tell me about this show specifically. What went into “WILLY NILLY?”
Hohman: This past year catapulted me into near isolation. My reaction to the outbreak of the pandemic was unexpectedly fierce. The state of our country and the world became an incredible challenge to face. I’ve been around for quite a while, but nothing prepared me for the physical and mental shut down I experienced. On the positive side, I intensified my explorations into the past, into the latest discoveries in physics and the connectivity of all things and read many books. As the world reemerges, my hope is that we all have a better understanding of who we are and why we are here. “WILLY NILLY” is an amalgam of various mediums and styles that reflect this period of my life. What began with a creative spurt, slowly fizzled to small doodles and experiments that steered my mind away from the chaotic state of our country and the world.
CONNECTIONS
Hohman’s show will be up until June 30th on Jasper’s Tiny Gallery site. When you go to the site, plan to see impressions of the natural world that quietly beckon visitation, geometric colors that seem to move like organisms under a slide, black and white illusions in which time seems to shift, and worlds clearly not our own and yet somehow strangely familiar.
These works can be perused and purchased 24/7 here: https://the-jasper-project.square.site/tiny-gallery
Hohman is unsure where she will go next but knows “the creative community in Columbia is always there to inspire.” While she embraces this inspiration, you can follow her work on Facebook @bahohman / Art & Murals by B.A.