Tom uses an unusually wide range of materials and techniques, but a common thread tends to be an interest in life that includes people, places and wildlife, and a loose and lively line that comes from drawing from life. There is often a story in a picture, and hopefully, also- a bit of hope.
Born in Gloucester, Tom moved from city to country when he was 5, and grew up in an old stone cottage, not just climbing trees and playing football, but dry-stone walling, gardening, coppicing trees- and, of course, drawing. He would copy comic books, invent imaginary animals, paint cacti, family members, household objects, views-both indoor and outdoor, birds at the bird table, and remembers lying in the grass in the meadow by his home- drawing bee orchids.
When he was about 14, he started drawing his classmates, and spent his last 4 years of school drawing them every break and lunchtime, learning a lot, and miraculously not losing any teeth in the process. He also did wood and stone-carving, and though self-taught in drawing and painting, he went to Stroud School of Art and learnt to make woodcuts and monoprints, and then did a degree in Fine Art in Falmouth, where he learnt further printmaking techniques, but left without the confidence to pursue art.
He spent the next 14 years doing other things- working in a kitchen in a Christian community, a hospital, a special needs school- moved down to Dorset and at one point was working in the stockroom of Boots in Bournemouth, unpacking pallets of boxes of hairdryers... and he spent a number of years teaching English as a Foreign Language. As a single parent of 2 small children, this became unsustainable, and Tom left- had time out to get through stress, depression and exhaustion, and in 2013 went self-employed as an artist.
This was an extremely foolish thing to do, as he had no idea what was going on in the art world, no local contacts, no experience of working in art, running a business or being self-employed, no idea how to sell an artwork, had never framed a picture, run a website, entered an exhibition, etc- but most of all, he had made almost no art for so many years and was completely out of practice.
In starting out, he had 2 key initial aims- one was to work outdoors as much as possible, and to date, this has included frost, snow, hail, freezing rain, normal rain, fog, high winds, and of course, the famous British sunshine. After working indoors for so many years, this is something to be really thankful for.
The other aim was to do printmaking, but he has no studio and at that time, had no press, leading to a good deal of experimental work, alongside the traditional, including printing with dry materials and making his printing plates en plein air. Since 2015, he has always made non-identical prints.
Sometimes foolish decisions turn out to be good ones.