About Thom

I received my first "hand-me-down" car from my father when I was 14 years old and painted it with a really wild paint job using paint in spray cans. Throughout High School I did automobile art for my friends. I put flames, scallops, and pin-stripes on their cars as well as doing "Wierdo"-type tee-shirts kind of like the ones popularized by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.

In '66 I caught the sports car bug and owned a couple of sports cars. As an Art student at University of Wisconsin, my intricate painting on my VW "bug" was the ticket to an "A" on my Art final. Marriage in the early '70's, with kids following soon after, turned my passion for cars to utilitarian. My goal was just to make it from here to there for a while. But even the "beaters" had custom paint jobs.

I began giving more time to drawing cars again in 1976, gradually increasing production to a couple of paintings every few months. I entered my first art competition in 1981 and won a Merit Award which gave me incentive to kick off a professional career. Many fine-art competitions, juried and one-man shows in various museums and galleries followed over the years, accompanied by many prestigious awards as well as inclusion in a number of well-known private and corporate collections. In 1985 I began to exhibit in automotive shows, expanding my involvement as I had opportunity.

I still find time to dabble with collector cars. Currently I have a '51 Pontiac. I get some of my best ideas driving the outback roads and old two lane highways. The Family and I enjoy driving in the "Chief" often as we tour or cruise the country-side.

In 1994 I was honored to receive a Par Excellence Award at the International Aviation Art Competition in Oshkosh, WI. And finally, in 1997, I was presented with a most beautiful trophy for being awarded, "Automotive Artist of the Year". This wonderful peice of art was created and hand-crafted by the famous street rod fabricator, Dan Webb.