FROM MICHIGAN TO SANTA FE

Thomas and Carole have held lifelong interests in the Arts since childhood continuing on through their formative years … their parents never discouraged their creative interests. 

They have been involved in the Arts as practicing artists and art educators for most of their lives. They have been recognized for artistic performance and achievement in the Arts; participated in local, regional, and national juried exhibitions, and made numerous regional and international Art presentations. They have been represented in various art galleries and have their works in private collections throughout the United States.

Tom and Carole graduated from Youngstown State University and met teaching Art in the Niles City Schools (Ohio). They relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan and continued to teach Art at various levels while developing themselves further as studio artists. They each pursued graduate studies in Fine Arts and Education at Kent State University (Ohio) and the University of Michigan. In 1994 they opened an art gallery in Northport, Michigan on the Leelanau Peninsula and curated it for over twenty-four years. In 2010, they began developing their artistic presence in Santa Fe. For several years they were artists-in-residence at the Inn and Spa at Loretto, Santa Fe. While residents they exhibited works in jewelry and sculpture. The Abiquiu Inn, Abiquiu, New Mexico has also hosted them as artists-in-residence where their artwork was on exhibit and shown from time to time. They currently have working studios and a gallery showroom steps from Canyon Road.

Both artists’ varied works have reverberated the essence of where they live … from the serene rolling hills of Ann Arbor, Michigan to the expansive shores of Lake Michigan, the Southernmost Mile “Marker 0” in Key West to the pastel desert mountains of New Mexico. A very acute attention to the sights, sounds and feelings that are emitted from the environment are paramount in the creation of their Art. When you visit their studio and gallery/showroom, you will notice their works of art are as eclectic in source, materials, and outcomes, as the lands in which they have lived. This is made evident in the work that each of them create.

Carole’s work in sterling silver, semi-precious, and natural stones link her interest to the land of this area. Her two-dimensional pieces in other media express a keen fondness of the Southwest. Her images are abstracted to basic forms that emerge in unique one-of-a-kind jewelry representations. They embrace the beauty in form and design that echoes direct observation of the natural wonders found in earthforms of Northern New Mexico, and other pristine places where she has lived and traveled. With a background in painting, design and the natural sciences her approach to art is to portray, in a variety of media, the essence, nuance, and structure of nature in the least complex way.

Tom believes an artist should create aesthetic experiences and outcomes which utilize a broad range of tools, materials, and techniques that communicate men and women’s unique conditions, and the majesty of Nature to the viewer. His art is a visual, concrete, and elemental language. He does not try to contain or narrow its translation, choosing rather to broaden its meaning and impact to the greatest possible audience. Tom engages the viewer’s mind to think about their closely held values and beliefs … to challenge their aesthetic understanding and question their meaning. His art is not restricted to any one medium, and typically represents a deep probing, and often metaphorical investigation.

Tom and Carole’s studios blend with an adjoining showroom space where they feature their contemporary art in a variety of themes and media inspired by Northern New Mexico and the Southwest. Their location is just a few minutes from Canyon Road in the Historic Canyon Road Arts District.