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| Retrobabe & Fluffo |
~ by Ron Greenaway @ Island Arts
Thomas Anderson is an established painter and sculptor living "in seclusion" with his partner, child and giant teddy-bear-of-a-dog in the Cowichan Valley. Their home, full of light and Tom's artwork, rests at the end of a private drive through the woods.
Influenced by comic art, Surrealists and the 1980s Outsider Art movement, Tom considers Salvador Dali "the last greatest living artist who died. He believed in what he was doing." Over a career of 25 years, often working through the night, nearly 5000 of Tom's works are now in gallery, celebrity and private collections worldwide.
He attributes his success to luck and "being in the right place at the right time". "Hollywood North was just starting to take off. My wood sculpture was the flavour of the month. I couldn't make the stuff fast enough. One Saturday morning I walked through the backdoor of the Vancouver gallery on 10th and Kitsilano carrying a half-life-sized wood sculpture of a Joker. Some girl in a black leather jacket and short hair and cowboy boots comes walking up to me and takes the thing right out of my hands. That was the quickest sale I ever had, and that was k.d.lang."
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The Rosetta Paradigm
2006, High Relief Sculpted Oil on Canvas, 150cm x 180cm
"I believe we will soon uncover, as like the Rosetta Stone, a recirculating structure, inverse in nature that will "unlock the simple key" of existence itself and all omnidirectional perceptions and structural dynamics."
~ Thomas Anderson
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"Painting is pure philosophy for me. I take painting deadly seriously, which isn't good. Wood carving keeps me grounded. If I only painted I'd probably float off the planet. Each painting for me is like a kid opening up a present on Christmas morning. I start with a seed of an idea, plant that, and see what grows out of it, cerebral farming in a way. If I knew exactly what it would be, it wouldn't be any fun. With carving, the Merry Prankster takes satirical barbs at society. I'll have an end result in mind and just work towards that." Currently, Tom is doing less sculpture and more painting.
His advice to aspiring artists is to "choose a path uniquely your own, stay true to yourself, and be humble. Maybe 10% of the general population of the whole planet is going to buy art, the rest are just trying to survive. That's reality, it's a bitter pill and sometimes it takes a lifetime to wipe it off your shoe".
Learn more about Thomas Anderson at www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile/Thomas+Anderson/16463.html.
~ by Ron Greenaway, January, 2008
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