Biographies > Arlie Hoffman

Still, starkly real, yet enigmatic, Black Water Island demonstrates Arlie’s ability to use naturalism for creating depths of meaning in his work. Although Arlie (Arlington) Hoffman had a long career in radiology, his first love has always been painting. Now he is retired from his other career, he works full-time on his art. Originally from Pembroke, Arlie has spent most of his life in northern Ontario and now resides in North Bay. His paintings vary from landscapes to still life. Recently he has focussed on figurative painting, attributing his inspiration to Dennis Geden, while Lake Nipissing remains the focus of much of his landscapes. He has always worked in oils and for a while he concentrated on watercolour. He is now continuing to experiment in both media. He has participated in many local shows, winning awards and public recognition for his work.

Arlie has had many solo exhibitions and his work is in many private, public and corporate collections including TAG, Cambrian College, City of Timmins, City of North Bay, Ontario Northland Railway and the Kennedy Gallery. He has curated exhibitions such as the John F. Seguin Retrospective in 2003 and the Angele Project exploring the legacy of Grey Owl in 2006. He has been artist-in-residence at the W.K.P. Kennedy Gallery and the Capital Centre, North Bay.

Arlie teaches at Canadore summer art school and is involved with the North Bay Heritage Carousel Project. He is also on the Board of White Water Gallery, Kennedy Gallery and the Capital Centre. He says, "If I wasn't involved, I would feel isolated."1

Being an artist in northern Ontario. The sheer beauty, large geographical size, ruggedness and small population have all contributed to influence particularly my earlier work on the landscape. More recently I have paid homage in my paintings to First Nations and pioneer spirited people of the north. Over the years I have noticed a maturity in the arts here and it being more part of the large spectrum of international art community. This has caused the northern artist to grow and to some degree I have been positively affected too.

1. Partly taken from interview for White Water Gallery , Virtual Museum of Canada