Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlie Pogue
Charlie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve been an artist as long as I can remember. Both of my parents are artists as well as my brother. My dad is a great painter, and my mom does a little of everything. My parents encouraged both me and my brother, who is just over one year older than me, to be creative since we were infants. Art has been a constant in my life. I had my first art show along with my brother when I was 4 or 5 years old. From childhood through my teenage years I always kept a sketchbook where I would experiment and doodle. In my early 20s I had just dropped out of school in KY where I had been studying music. Me and my family all moved back to Knoxville at this time. I remember feeling and not knowing what I would do with myself. This is when I really started to own my art practice again. I was broke and lost, and art was the only thing in my life that I felt I had control over at the time. I fell in love with painting and drawing again and I started doing First Friday shows as often as possible around Knoxville. In my mid twenties I decided to go back to school for art to learn more technique. Prior to this I had been completely self-taught, outside of my parents loose guidance. I took art classes at Pellissippi State and then transferred back into Berea College where I continued to study fine art with an emphasis on painting. I loved taking art classes, however I got to a point where I felt like it wasn’t helping my art progress anymore and that I had gotten what I needed out of school, so I dropped out and moved back to Knoxville. Ive now been back in Knoxville for about 10 years and have continued making art pretty consistently. This last year I had a big shift in my professional life which has lead me to be fully committed to creating once again.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I, like most artists have had many struggles and setbacks along my journey. Art is such a personal and subjective thing that of course you will have times where you doubt yourself and your abilities. You ask yourself if your work is “good” constantly and wonder why you’re even doing it in the first place when it is such a difficult path. I don’t think being an artist is ever a smooth road. Art itself is a constant struggle, and I see it as striving for the impossible at times. With my paintings I am trying to convey something that words cannot, and that is always challenging. There’s also been times in my life where ive struggled financially and would resent art and cast it aside as a waste of time. I really have to love and believe in my art to be able to continue creating. I’ve also had to really grapple with learning the business side of art, which can be difficult to juggle with the making the art itself. Keeping my art true to myself and not compromising for the sake of sales is very important to me.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m an artist. I work in mixed medias, but primarily paint. Usually my paintings consist of some representational imagery along with some abstraction. There is a lot of variety in my work, and a wide range of subject matter. Within my paintings I use imagery as symbols and open-ended metaphors. They contain a world where anything can exist. The name of my art business is ‘Like the Void’. I got the name from an old zen monk / artist, who’s name meant “one who is like the void”. Ive always been strongly influenced by eastern philosophy, especially the Japanese and their approach towards art and life. The void in buddhism essentially being a creative force from which everything comes and goes. I call my studio “The Void” for that reason. I’m proud to be an artist from a long line of artists before me. Because of how long I’ve been working on art Ive been able to develope a unique style. It is always my goal to make my art as true to myself as possible. I want my art to be as unique as my fingerprint.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Love. I make art because I love it, and the love of art is what makes me strive for success.
Pricing:
- $700
- $600
- $500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.LiketheVoid.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Like_the_void
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charliepogueART/
