ARTIST STATEMENT
I seek to find the extraordinary within the seemingly ordinary, to create images that are compelling, complex, cohesive and hopefully inspiring. Consistently my subject matter draws upon things that are close at hand, things I have an intimate knowledge of. Because of this, I believe my work is authentic and honest in its approach and appearance. I believe one has a responsibility to capture things in and of themselves. Yet like any alchemist, I add elements of abstraction, distortion or exaggeration to convey a greater truth. There is a plurality to my art; it is realistic and expressive, usual and unusual, modern and traditional. It is seldom about one thing. However, one element I explore more than any other is that of the nature of light. Light creates a kaleidoscope of moods as it illuminates surfaces or lingers in heavy, moist air. Sometimes quiescent, sometimes ominous, the silent light sets the stage for the drama to unfold.
Artist Bio
The renowned painter and pastelist, Tom Mitts, is an established fine artist living and working in Newport, KY. Mr. Mitts is a graduate of Centre College of Kentucky and holds his MFA from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He has been an artist in residence at the Glassell School with the Museum of Fine Art in Houston. His work has been displayed in over 100 group and solo art exhibits and has been published both locally and nationally. His award winning works are in numerous private and corporate collections, such as that of Governor Paul Patton of Kentucky, former Ohio State Senate President Stanley Aronoff, Cincinnati Financial Corporation, Nina Kirkland Caldwell Banker Realty and Keating, Muething & Klekamp. His work was included in the juried exhibits Kentucky Visions hosted at the Kentucky Governor's Mansion in Frankfort in 2004, 2003, and 2001. In the recent past, he won four awards at Duveneck Art Show in Covington, including "Best of Show" and "The Duveneck Purchase Award". As an Signature Member of the Cincinnati Art Club, he has exhibited in numerous group exhibits and two Solo exhibits.
Additional Information available on request: mittsfineart@zoomtown.com
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Select QUOTES "Newport artist Tom Mitts is Greater Cincinnati's painter of light - and of dark and snowy evenings. His paintings evoke the moods of old Newport at night, in a charming and original way." .... Owen Findsen, Cincinnati Enquirer. "Pastel is the medium in which Mitts excels." .... Jerry Stein, Cincinnati Post. "Using the nuances of darkness and light, the subtle reflections of glistening water or the softness of freshly fallen snow, Mitts' paintings feel wet and cold, but warmly real at the same time." .... Donna Herald, Kentucky Post. "The street scenes verged on the dangerous and foreboding; they realized a risky but inviting mystery tinted by anxiety, .... Mitts tries with some real success to perform the vital artistic magic of expressing the eternal in the moment. This... especially makes Mitts' work worth looking at." .... Lee Horvitz, Antenna Arts Magazine. |
Select Collections
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SELECT EXHIBITIONS 1983 - Present Participated in over 100 solo and group exhibits
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