Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Hogeback.
Hi Tom, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
It all started in High School around 1974, I was introduced to a pinhole camera in a Graphic Arts class and immediately became fascinated with the process of photography. This fascination continued throughout a stint in the U.S. Navy, after which I received formal training and experience in the S.F. Bay Area. This fascination stayed with me upon my relocation to S/W Ohio, where I was able to practice my skills while working part-time and rehabbing an old house.
In about 1991, I channeled my skills into designing and framing art at a local framing store where I worked for four years. About 1996, I was offered the chance to buy a framing store, so I did and have had a successful career for the past 28 years. I moved the store in 1997 into a building I was able to fully design and have built to my exact specifications.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
28 years of anything cannot be a totally smooth road. Plenty of struggles, especially the market crash of 2008, where my gross for the year was something like 10k. I have built community with my shop by hosting yearly openings and gallery shows. The customers: professional artists, collectors, and everyday folk have enriched my life incredibly. I have followed families growing, artists aging, and friends passing, not to mention health and other personal issues.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Photography has been my passion since the High School days, and this business has given me the opportunity to continually expand my knowledge and exposure to the public. It has motivated me to look deeper into what is needed to expand my creativity and craft. The gallery space keeps my work visible to the public; I show my work here and in other galleries and publications. Many friends and acquaintances are facing the reality of retirement and wondering what they will do with the extra time. I look at that benefit of extra time with joy and anticipation when I can spend more waking hours on my art.
I gave up a business career to pursue my vision and haven’t looked back.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Hard work and paying attention. Lots of both. Social media has never been my strong point, and I plan to expand that knowledge for the future.
I would love to find, understudy but it seems us artsy people are not as common as in days past.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.villagewestframing.com/ and www.tomhogeback.photography/
