About the artist:
Tom lives in Tarpon Springs, Florida, and works at home and in the Sculpture Studio in Clear Water. Although he has completed about a dozen wood carvings over the course of 30 years, his dream was to one day sculpt stone.
Tom started carving stone at age 69 and has been working with this medium for about 8 years. Primarily self-taught, his formal art training includes several classes at Dunedin Fine Art Center, and a workshop with Alan Brown at 2 Sculpt in Kansas. Tom’s work has been shown in six DFAC Student, Member, Faculty exhibits, and he was awarded Best of Show in 2021.
After his discharge from the Air Force in the mid-1960s, Tom earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology in the mid-1970s, and an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts in the mid-1990s. He has worked as an over-the-road trucker and a narcotic rehabilitation officer, he interned in a penitentiary and also interned at the 1995 Kentucky Derby. He was a production cook and a food service manager. Notably, Tom spent over 30 years working with incarcerated youth as a Counselor, Program Manager, and Facility Administrator.
About his work, Tom says, “I use my art to tell the stories and experiences of the people I’ve known and those who have had an impact on me in my journey. The faces I carve are a compilation of the people I’ve known. Although I have occasionally made an attempt to carve animals and abstracts, I always return to the faces of the people I love and the stories I need to tell.”
Awards-
Dunedin Fine Art Center - 2021 Student Member Exhibit - Best In Show
Dunedin Fine Art Center - Solo Exhibition 2022
Suncoast Black Arts Collective - 2023 Visions In Black Exhibition - Second place