The Biography of Lenny Hoover
"Art necessarily presupposes knowledge." John Stuart Mill
I am a native son of Arizona, and the descendant of Southerners who kept moving west for land that was not worn out from cotton farming, or for more opportunity as cowboys. Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico and Nevada at times have been my home. My youth was spent around farming, some ranching and irrigation. Arizona State University is my alma matter earning a Bachelors of Arts in Education with a history and biology emphasis. A Masters of Education with honors from Northern Arizona University was earned later in life. I have had a number of full and part-time occupations: wrangler, trailer mover, construction, superintendent of construction, cook, restaurant manager/owner, bouncer, teacher, principal at all school grade levels, freelance writer and educational consultant. Each of these activities produced a library of inspirational memories.
In the trips I took as a freelance writer I traveled all over North America: including Alaska, Canada and Mexico. Observing and photographing nature and many, magnificent species of wildlife has been a highlight of my life. It sometimes took weeks to travel on airlines, bush flights, trucks, horses or mules and on foot, just to be where select wildlife lived. Some of the magazine articles I have written were entered into the Congressional record. As a high school administrator I received a Congressional commendation for working with the White Mountain Apache and other Native American youth helping them integrate more fully into their high school while finding resources for, and assisting those who were struggling.
Creativity has always been an integral part of my life whether I was a judge in a junior high, juried art contest, the author of several articles on science fiction cover art, selling art pieces by commission or entering art shows and exhibitions. From the images on the memory of my past, what I have studied and read about comes the inspiration that drives my art now that I am retired early and have the time it deserves. Most of my working career has been spent working with children and I have loved that. Now, I turn to my other passion, sculpting the west, my home state, nature and history in the challenging medium of my art, raku ceramic sculpture.
In the trips I took as a freelance writer I traveled all over North America: including Alaska, Canada and Mexico. Observing and photographing nature and many, magnificent species of wildlife has been a highlight of my life. It sometimes took weeks to travel on airlines, bush flights, trucks, horses or mules and on foot, just to be where select wildlife lived. Some of the magazine articles I have written were entered into the Congressional record. As a high school administrator I received a Congressional commendation for working with the White Mountain Apache and other Native American youth helping them integrate more fully into their high school while finding resources for, and assisting those who were struggling.
Creativity has always been an integral part of my life whether I was a judge in a junior high, juried art contest, the author of several articles on science fiction cover art, selling art pieces by commission or entering art shows and exhibitions. From the images on the memory of my past, what I have studied and read about comes the inspiration that drives my art now that I am retired early and have the time it deserves. Most of my working career has been spent working with children and I have loved that. Now, I turn to my other passion, sculpting the west, my home state, nature and history in the challenging medium of my art, raku ceramic sculpture.