Artist - Tom Atkins
April, May & June
Currently living and working in Vermont, I was raised in Richmond, Virginia, and spending 30+ years in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virgina, I navigated my formative years largely unassisted, developing within a household that discouraged creative expression. With no artistic support, any talent I had quietly lay dormant until my adult life. It was only in my twenties when an irrepressible passion for creativity emerged, ignited by a seemingly minuscule sketch of a castle that I wanted a wall sized drawing of. Unaware that people just don’t pick up and create art. I did. And that is how it started.
My educational background provides an intriguing divergence from my artistic inclinations. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in English with minors in History, Communications, and Drama. I also have a Master’s degree in Poetry Writing and a Doctor of Divinity.
After college was 35 years in the broadcast technology industry, designing and building TV studios and control rooms, with projects extending across the country and even globally. Art became an indispensable part of my existence. Until my fifties, when enduring the personal turmoil of divorce and a decimating phase of depression. I eventually moved, finding myself in the serene landscapes of Vermont which sparked my artistic revival.
Today, a majority of my work is abstract, seeking to encapsulate emotions, faith, and growth using line, color, and white space. Secular themes and a personal quest to process his emotions led him to gravitate towards abstract imagery, transforming feelings into hues, brush strokes and layered representations. I am primarily a poet, and my paintings are like poems, capturing an essence of mood with color, line, and space. They have become my first love.
My technique technique is primarily built on experimentation and years of practice. I employ four to five distinct styles, each adapted to echo the emotional undercurrent of a specific piece. Each piece is aimed at provoking specific feelings rather than just representing a visual narrative. I am slow in processing my own feelings, and art allows me a path to get them out that others can experience as well.
Influences? Rembrandt, Klee, Calder, Rothko, and Dali top the list.
Outside of art, I thrive as a poet and a writer, with several published books. Over the past decade, I have transformed technical work to work directly helping people and today I have a glorious patchword way of making a living as an artist, writer, coach and consultant, spiritual counselor and part time Methodist Pastor.
I live in West Pawlet Vermont, with studios just across the border in an old Presbyterian Church in Middle Granville, NY. I am married and have two cats.
This blog constantly updates my latest work. You can see more my art on his Quarry House website, or visit Fine Art America to get museum quality prints, If you are a gallery owner who would like to sell his work, or a patron who wishes to have a painting done by commission, or simply want to start a conversation, you can contact me directly.
Be well. Travel wisely,
Tom