TOM HOGAN

About Tom Hogan

Tom Hogan was born in Sioux Lookout on October 31st 1955. He was abandoned as a baby and adopted by an abusive man. When the courts removed Tom from that home at the age of 12, he was bounced around from home to home, spent time in a children’s psychiatric residential program, and finally chose the road of wandering and homelessness. He has worked with carnivals, been a migrant vegetable picker, and has spent time in more addiction recovery programs than you can shake a (talking) stick at.

Though all of these paths took Tom far from his First Nations roots, it was being incarcerated at Stony Mountain Penitentiary in Manitoba that started his journey back to them. While in prison Tom started studying his culture and the work of some of the great First Nations artists from the area where he was born.

Tom Hogan is a self-taught Woodland style artist. His vibrant paintings reflect both his knowledge of Aboriginal mythology and his personal journey. Each work is a testament to his spirit’s ability to transcend the often difficult realities of the human condition.

Tom is now living in The Managed Alcohol Program, at The Shepherds of Good Hope in Ottawa. When he arrived in 2004, he was literally on his last legs: extremely malnourished, suffering from both pneumonia and tuberculosis, and no longer able to manage his addictions. There is little doubt Tom would no longer be with us had it not been for the nurturing, non-judgmental care he has received in this program. With his craving for alcohol managed and his health sustained, he puts brush to canvas and he creates.