Tom Powers

Tom Powers (1988) 

Tom writes: "My paintings distort and add unusual colors to figures and faces.  My imagination reshapes the ordinary and I try to capture these insights with a paintbrush.  I twist forms and search out colors that lie in the flesh.  The shapes change constantly with light, angle, and perspective.  I use colors to convey feelings.  Most of my paintings try to capture a moment or person that moved me one way or another--the resulting work can be beautiful, grotesque, or something in between.  I have hundreds of ideas documented in sketches that I try to bring to life with paint.  I am thrilled by the infinite possibilities of figures and faces. 

Getting the imagined art on to the canvas is always a challenge.  My process starts with color selection when I squeeze paint onto my palette.  I use all of the paint that comes out of the tube, so I am thoughtful in this action.  I often work with several pieces at once: building them up, letting them dry, reworking them, riffing on different strokes, colors, patterns, etc.  I often use one brush per palette and rarely rinse it.  I start with light colors and move to bolder ones usually finishing with black outlines.  I try to be as loose as possible.  I usually have to paint for an hour before I am as free as I want to be.  My sketches and underpaintings tend to be rigid and I need to work on them until I get the shapes right. Often a work is finished after multiple sessions lasting more than an hour each.

I have been inspired by my community.  I paint my family, friends, neighbors, movie stars, figures from other artworks, and even strangers.  Often a work is a conglomerate of these people--the idea of a person instead of an actual being."

Tom is the Grants and Compliance Director, at Grace Place in Naples Florida, a community organization putting "faith into action, providing pathways out of poverty by educating children and families."