Tom is a signature member and past-president of the
Ohio Watercolor Society and currently serves in various roles including membership registrar and webmaster. Previously, he received a PhD from Stanford University and was a chemistry professor for 30 years at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, where he authored and published more than 60 research papers and two textbooks. Tom was named an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellow, 1985-87.
After retirement from the university in 2007, Tom moved to Ohio to pursue watercolor painting, a childhood passion instilled by watercolorist Charlotte Wilson in Havertown, PA and rekindled during the past 20 years in more than two-dozen workshops with prominent watercolorists.
In 2018, Tom received membership in the
Whiskey Painters of America (WPA). He is also an associate member of the American Watercolor Society and a lifetime member of the
Toledo Artists’ Club. He served as President of the TAC from 2009 through 2013.
In 2023, Tom was awarded signature membership in the Watercolor USA Honor Society.
Juried Exhibitions, 2015-25
2025
Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition, 13th Annual Juried Show
American Watercolor Society, 2025 Associate Members Online Exhibition
Watercolor USA, 2025
2024
Ohio Watercolor Society, 47th Annual Juried Show
Watercolor USA, 2024
2023
Watercolor USA 2023,
Watercolor USA Honor Society Richard Clubb Memorial Award.
American Watercolor Society,
2023 Associate Members Online Exhibition
2022
Ohio Watercolor Society, 45th Annual Juried Show
TFAS 100+5: Juried Regional Exhibition
2021
Ohio Watercolor Society, 44th Annual Juried Show
Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition, 9th Annual Juried Show
Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, Aqueous Open 2021 Exhibition
2020
Ohio Watercolor Society, 43rd Annual Juried Show
Toledo Federation of Art Societies, TFAS100+3: Juried Members’ Exhibit
2019
Ohio Watercolor Society, 42nd Annual Juried Show
2018
American Watercolor Society, 151st International Exhibition, Watercolor Artist Magazine Award
Ohio Watercolor Society, 41st Annual Juried Show
Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, Aqueous Open 2018 Exhibition
2017
Ohio Watercolor Society, 40th Annual Juried Show
Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, Aqueous Open 2017 Exhibition
2016
Ohio Watercolor Society, 39th Annual Juried Show, Winsor-Newton Award
Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, 37th International Juried Exhibition
Pittsburgh Watercolor Society,
Aqueous Open 2016 Exhibition
Kentucky Watercolor Society,
Aqueous USA 2016 Exhibition
2015
Wassenburg Art Center, 59th Annual Juried Exhibit, Honorable Mention Award
Ohio Watercolor Society, 38th Annual Juried Show, Merit Award
Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, Aqueous Open 2015 Exhibition, Award of Merit
Artist’s statement:
Painting is my way to translate observations, experiences and feelings about a subject into a tangible representation that not only can be shared with others, but also used personally to make sense of the world in ways not unlike those used in my previous vocation to probe the elemental nature of matter.
Natural landscapes, especially those of coastal regions and the American West, are my favorite subjects, but anything that catches my fancy can become part of a painting whether it be animals, flowers, trains, boats, lighthouses or other structures. The style of my paintings is representational with varying notes of impressionism and abstraction.
I find watercolor to be the most satisfying medium for painting, perhaps because of the varied ways that paint can be applied, from juicy washes to dry brush techniques and from transparent to opaque. My primary choice for a painting surface is Yupo, a synthetic paper made from polypropylene. Its slick, non-absorbent surface promotes the flow and arbitrary mixing of paint that imparts vitality to a finished painting. In spite of its slickness, the surface can also accept paint applied in a more controlled fashion to create distinct edges or luminous hues from layers of color.
The ability to remove paint and restore the original white surface by wiping with a wet cloth or brush is another appeal of painting on Yupo. Some white areas in my paintings exist because they were left unpainted, but wiping off paint in other places creates textures and highlights or accentuates specific edges.
