Charlie Hoffack Detective Artist

Hoffacker said his detective job typically begins at 2 a.m. with a call about a shooting. He rushes to the scene and sizes up the loss of another young man’s life. Then he begins gathering witnesses, video recordings when possible, telephone tips -- anything to eventually put together the pieces to solve the crime. He gives family members whatever news there is to give. Stress comes with the territory.

His release, he said, is art. When he gets home from work, he paints until it’s time to sleep. When he gets up, he paints until it’s time to head out again.

“You can focus on it,” he said of painting, “it really takes me away.”

There tends to be a lot of depression among police officers, he said. Everyone tries to find some way to decompress. Art, he said, “has helped me be more healthy.”

Hoffacker credits his love of art to Delgado Community College instructors Holis Hannan and Dan Tague. Three years ago, he began taking classes at Delgado related to his career as a cop. But elective classes were also required. So he signed up for a beginners painting course and discovered an unknown passion. His teachers became great mentors, he said. Among other things, they helped him see beyond landscape painting into conceptualism – the sort of art where ideas are as important as images.
Source
More