Hogben was born in the countryside, in a village to the west of Derby. His own account of these early years tells us much about an artist for whom the experience of the high, moorland landscape of his native county imprinted itself on his imagination and ensured that, when he encountered the ‘wild and beautiful place’ which was Cornwall, around Falmouth, it found an immediate response in him.

“My recent work has been drawn from the landscape North West of Helston where I live. It is an area of hills and high ground once farmed by my wife’s family, which reminds me of the landscape of my Derbyshire childhood. It is a wild and beautiful place; an ancient landscape where the seasons, the cycle of events, the arrivals and departures and the explosion of life continues. My wife’s need to be in this place and her knowledge and love of nature have engaged my interest and countered my wandering ways.”