VENICE — When Hodges Soileau started his illustration career back in Houston, Texas, he was a pen and ink artist “mostly because of drawing,” he said. “It was my strong suit at the time.”
Now he predominantly uses oil paint as his medium.
A native of Eunice, Louisiana, he moved to Florida from Connecticut.
Soileau, who has been Venice resident for 24 years, taught figure painting and drawing at Ringling College of Art and Design as an adjunct professor for 16 years. He is a member of the Venice Art Center, where he teaches a couple of painting workshops in the spring.
Soileau shared how he got involved in art and what most inspires him. This Q & A has been edited for clarity.
How did you get involved in creating art?
It all started as a kid in rural Louisiana. My family had farm animals (pigs, a few cows, and I had horses) they would butcher pigs for meat and my mother had a large coffin freezer she would pack the meat in. The freezer paper she used had one side that was a great drawing surface. She would roll out a big piece on the Linoleum floor in the kitchen and my little brother and I would start on each end and meet in the middle.