Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Francis.
Tom, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
My hope was to study biology, and I enrolled at the University of Wisconsin to do so. During my freshman year, I took a drawing course as an elective (I’d never had an art course before), and was completely captivated. There were 15 students in the class, and each one of us created unique solutions to every assignment. That isn’t the case in calculus or physical chemistry! So I was hooked! I changed majors and found out I had never worked so hard in my life- and loved every second of the chase. I still do! I received a BA, MA and MFA from Wisconsin, and took a position at The Atlanta College of Art in 1978 as Chairman of the Painting Department. I have taught in Brittany for a RID sponsored summer program in Pont Aven, ACA merged with SCAD-Atlanta in 2006, and I am currently Associate Chair of Painting. I have always been a practicing artist, and have exhibited my work widely in the United States, Europe and Asia.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I do about paintings about things, not of things. My painting is usually large scale, vividly colored and intensely patterned. My subject matter involves Lora and Fauna from many varied environments. I celebrate color as light and lavishly apply that color with an intensely developed under painting. The final layers of oil are extremely physical in nature. My work is not for the visually lazy – the more you see the more you get. I would describe my paintings as joyously optimistic. Children are my audience, as they seem to engage with my work without visual limitations. The majority of my painting is derived from my travels, and my love of painting from recollection.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
As a professor of painting, I tell my students this: It ALWAYS has to be about the work. You have to be totally engaged with your painting- all of the time. The honesty of your endeavors will be apparent, and your work will become genuine and have authority. Your opportunities will come from that involvement. It takes a long time to learn to really listen to your work. Be patient and engaged!
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Although I actively exhibit my work in a variety of venues, I am currently represented by Thomas Deans Gallery and I.D.E.A. Gallery in Atlanta. My website is tomfrancisart.com, and it can be seen as well on Instagram, #tomfrancisart
I create with commissioned pieces as well as through galleries, designers and art consultants.
My paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States and abroad, including the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; The High Museum of Art in Atlanta; MOCA-GA in Atlanta; Montgomery Museum of Fine Art in Alabama; the Georgia Museum of Fine Art in Athens; Westmont Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina; Ohr-O’Keefe Museum in Biloxi, Mississippi; Fay Gold Gallery in Atlanta; Sylvia Schmidt Gallery in New Orleans; Thomas Deans Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA and Atlanta, GA; Linda Matney Gallery, Williamsburg, VA.
International exhibitions include KLIM Galleries in Toronto, Canada; Chapelle de la Sorbonne in Paris; Refectoire des Jacobins in Toulouse, France; Palazzo Venezia in Rome; Moot Gallery, Hong Kong; and Creative World, Khabarovsk, Russia.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1136 Shepherds Lane Atlanta, GA 30324
- Website: tomfrancisart.com
- Phone: 404.309.0023
- Email: tomfrancisart@gmail.com
- Instagram: #tomfrancisart
Image Credit:
Lucy Xian Francis
Tom Francis
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
