Thomas G. Waldrop

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Artist's Statement
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Artist's Statement

I love beautiful places. I have studied water and air all my life to understand why things look the way they do. I am fascinated by the way air and light mix together. They transform the appearance of objects in the distance, they make the sunbeams and rainbows, they color the sky and clouds. And water with its mysterious qualities has always been compelling to me. The way it flows and falls, reflects and refracts, has color and is clear. It reveals the wind on its surface and the ripples from the fish just below and yet it is always in motion itself. When I contemplate the air and water and light, I am exploring the world not only with my senses, but also with my heart. It is the heart that remembers beauty and guides the painter to transcend technique.

I love people as individual human beings. We sense the world and wonder about it. We have our special places. I respect portraiture. A good portrait is more than the rendering of a likeness. We carry our hearts in our eyes and our thoughts in our mouths. A good portrait reveals life beneath the skin. All of my portraits are about people feeling secure and relaxed and alive. They are at peace with their environment. They are a natural part of the scene, as important to the beauty of the scene as the trees and clouds.

My understanding of air, water, and light allows me to integrate the elements of a landscape or portrait. The finished work is more than just a rendition of objects. It is a recollection of sensation and mood; of objects relating to each other and to the air and light that pervades the scene. It is my goal as an artist to capture beauty in my heart and to share it using illusions of paint. I hope to give the viewer a sense of my love for the natural world and for the human beings living in it.