“ Great Falls is a very rich artist community of the Western American genre . Charles Marion ( C . M .) Russell — the most successful American artist of his day — lived and painted there . The school district , rich with art education , would take us on day trips to the C . M . Russell museum , which was this wonderful log cabin with all these Native American artifacts and the paintings he was working on when he died . So , growing up in that environment where everybody said , ‘ Well , maybe you ’ ll be the next Charlie Russel !’ really empowered the imagination of generations . And even though I ’ m a contemporary artist , Charlie ’ s legacy inspired me to see the possibility of being an artist for a living .”
Beyond a supportive family and community at large , Tom also enjoyed great mentors .
“ Several of my art teachers in high school made major impacts on my art ; I was guided by them as years went by and in my later years , by my brothers and fellow artists . My stepbrother Daniel Kelly , a well-known artist in Japan , also played a big role in my technical painting education . I learned a lot of techniques and sensitivities from him , and his influences can still be seen in my work .”
Due to solvent allergies developed as a child , Tom works primarily in acrylics . He builds his impasto compositions in layers of modeling paste until he is happy with them . After they dry , he adds color . It is a timeconsuming process . How much time ?
“ It ’ s different for every project . As a rule , you try not to spend so much time doing something that you lose interest in it or overwork it and ruin it . I ’ ve made that mistake . You want to be efficient .
“ Once , I spent weeks on a piece and I hated it . So , I trashed it . Sometimes you have to divorce yourself from a piece . If it isn ’ t right now , it ’ s never going to be right , and you can ’ t waste any more time trying to fix it . This stuff has to flow ; it ’ s got to be magic . It ’ s got to happen smoothly and quickly and if it doesn ’ t — start over . Otherwise , you ’ ll be so far into it you ’ ll never make a dime on that painting , and you ’ ll be bummed .
“ People don ’ t always understand what goes into a painting . The time spent working on it — time spent pondering how to proceed . Sometimes I ’ m in the studio pushing texture and paint around . While other times I ’ m sitting here drinking coffee , staring into space , and listening to music while in my head I ’ m planning and creating . It ’ s a process .”
It ’ s a process that Tom has mastered and built his business on . Tom ’ s first foray into the business end of art happened while he was still in high school .
“ I started selling my art at art sales at the high school and the mall . And all of a sudden I was getting money for my projects from art class . And I ’ m going , ‘ Oh that ’ s cool . Yeah , I ’ ll do that .’
“ Ascending Indigo ” “ Palisade Falls ” 10 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE
“ I remember , as a senior , I ’ d just bought a new car and I needed some money for snow tires . In Great Falls you need them ! And I sold this abstract painting to a dentist in town because he needed art for his office . He paid $ 35 which was a ton of money in those days . And I went and bought two snow tires and I thought this is the greatest success of my life !”