Artist:Douglas Hofmann
Title Reflections Portfolio (Suite of 2)
Edition:: Orginial Lithograph S/N to 295
Image size: 13" x 11" each
From the Artist: Born in 1945 I was the only child of German-American parents, and have lived my entire life in Baltimore, Maryland. I have been married to Fran for over 36 years, and our two children have given us five grandchildren.

My father's hobby was building model trains, and we often built trains together. This detail-oriented work taught me patience, and the attention to detail, that I would later need to become a realist painter. The other major early influence on me was the movies. My parents and I used to watch at least two movies a week. This sparked my imagination, and my sense of beauty and composition. In particular, I really enjoyed the ‘Westerns’ and ‘Adventure’ movies. My absolute favorite movie was Disney's ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’.

All throughout my school years I could always draw very well, but didn't take art too seriously until 1963, when on a whim, I enrolled in The Maryland Institute College of Art instead of going to business school. At the Institute, despite the popularity of abstract expressionism, I found that I preferred realism, particularly the style of the old masters. My mentor, Joseph Sheppard, taught me the ‘Maroger Method’, a painting discipline that emulates the chemistry and qualities of oil paintings by the Dutch Masters.

Probably most important to my growth as an artist, was a job I had during my years at the Institute, in the window display department of Hecht's Department Store. Learning how to collect the right props, and arrange them in a display window, is very similar to the work I do in planning and creating my paintings. This practical training was so much more useful than anything I could have learned in the staid atmosphere of art school.