Tom D.
Outsider
Artist Tom D.
"Painting
helps me deal with life. It gets me through the day."
Michigan outsider
artist Tom
d.
has been in the folk art world since
the
early 80s. His work has been featured in Raw Vision magazine and
he has
had
gallery showings with artists as diverse as Andy Warhol to the
late
master
Howard Finster. In fact, Tom had work at Paradise Gardens, the Howard
Finster showcase gallery.
Tom
D.
(his surname is Duimstra) lives in Grand
Rapids, Michigan and
has the
accent to prove it. Painting since the late 1970's, Tom's work depicts
intriguing big-bossomed women, blues players, and animals of his
own
creation -- especially birds -- in all sorts of situations and
combinations.
Working
with acrylics, he applies his paint to found pieces of wood and
will
often incorporate text, titles and anecdotes into his paintings
and
most
recently, adding some collage elements into the mix. Tom's better known
paintings include "Son House, Father of the Folk Blues"
and an entire
cast
of blues music legends, but his comic interpretation of everyday
'archetypes' are the most popular with beginning collectors.
Tom's
a
seasoned veteran in the outsider art world with a small but
growing
celebrity cult following. "I can't say no when people ask
for my work",
admits the artist. The prolific nature he exhibits is not a means
to an
end,
however. It's what makes him happy.
contact
RaZoo GaLLery
webmaster@razoogallery.com