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Tom Condon • Profile
Artist Tom Condon brings extraordinary beauty to ordinary subjects through simplification. By minimizing unnecessary extras and exaggerating raw essence, Condon presents the world around him with elegance and sophistication, inviting the viewer to contemplate and enjoy the subtle beauty he reveals. Focusing mostly on domestic interiors and his natural surroundings, Tom Condon's oil paintings are a lush glimpse into his garden, studio, and home. His still life paintings are a collection of casual, yet deliberate, brush strokes that unveil untraditional oil compositions with impeccable subject arrangement. Clean and simple, his pieces effectively use empty space to interplay light quality, shadow, color and reflection, revealing classic compositions of stillness and subdued warmth.
Condon's connection to his past experiences with watercolor techniques is a unique and apparent quality of his oil paintings. He often "washes" the canvas with a slight glaze of sepia before he builds from light to dark, sometimes letting the pale sepia tones of the canvas serve as the white highlights in the piece. This technique enables his work to take on a lightness that usually only exists in watercolors.
Trained as a portrait artist at an early age, Condon attended Interlochen Fine Arts Camp in 1979, participated in several art exhibitions as he moved into working with watercolor and, by 1980, began pursuing his degree in interior design at Michigan State University. Graduating in 1985, Condon entered the professional world of Interior Design and still works in this field today. Thirteen years after graduation, Condon began oil painting, joining the Underground Studio in 1999, only one year later.
Tom Condon • Statement
The inspiration for my work is the world around me - nature mixed with objects. Living in Michigan, most of my subject matter is fragments of my home and garden.
I am for the most part a studio painter, painting from a compilation of reference photographs, sketches and memories. When possible, I prefer to observe the subject directly by bringing flowers and objects from the garden into my studio. Nature has a way of always teaching me something new.
My earlier experiences were as a watercolor artist, participating in several art shows and local art instruction. While in college, I took several studio and art history classes and loved them all. I obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design and now work part-time in this field. The remaining time is given to my stay-at-home dad status. My boys are in school now and I'm once again finding time to paint. After years of being busy with my career and family, I am happy to find my desire to paint has not diminished, but has been patiently waiting for an opportunity to be expressed.
With a desire to paint larger and bolder, I moved from watercolor to oils. Blending the application techniques of watercolor with the brilliance, translucence and intensity of color that can be achieved with oils, I am currently creating compositions that bring together balance and simplicity with respect to light and open space.
Tom Condon • Biography
EDUCATION
1985
Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design, Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan
1979
Interlochen Arts Academy
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2004
"Polished," Three-Person Exhibition, LaFontsee Galleries, Grand Rapids, Michigan
2003
"Holiday Muse," LaFontsee Galleries, Grand Rapids, Michigan
"Freshly Picked," Three-Person Exhibition, Lafontsee Galleries, Grand Rapids, Michigan
2002
"Between Color," Three-Person Exhibition, LaFontsee Galleries, Grand Rapids, Michigan
1985
"Waterworks," Michigan Watercolor Society, Midland, Michigan
HIGHLIGHTS
2001
Cosmopolitan Home, March/April
