The South Valley is a treasure trove of artistic talent, however
most of these gifted individuals or groups are hidden among the
bucolic setting and unfortunately are often overlooked by the
masses in our cities.
The South Valley is a treasure trove of artistic talent, however most of these gifted individuals or groups are hidden among the bucolic setting and unfortunately are often overlooked by the masses in our cities. Unless the artists themselves advertise and market their wares, whether it is visual expression, dance, music, literary works or theater, hardly anyone will experience the pleasure of meeting them. My contribution of representing the arts in the South County and beyond via my column hopefully has enlightened, entertained and boost the public awareness of the talent among us. With the recent changes in the paper this will be my last Arts In Motion column and I choose to honor Morgan Hill artist Tom King. His simple yet provocative pastel paintings of wild animals, abstracts, landscapes and still lifes captured many an eye with his moody depictions.
King’s rugged exterior belies his gentle thoughtful demeanor and his ability to create living beings on paper in vivid hues in soft pastel. Like most artisans, he unleashed his creative side in grammar school, taking his first art class in junior high, which included clay sculpting, ceramics, wood block carving, paper mache and, of course, drawing. Later, King took it a step further and enrolled at Central Missouri University, taking commercial art for a year. Down the road, a sense of duty prevailed in his heart and he enlisted in the Army to help our country fight the Vietnam War. The Midwest native traveled the world and subsequently married Leesa, an emergency room nurse and avid runner whom he met in Missouri. He is now retired from the military and devotes his time to developing painting and photographic techniques.
When King isn’t painting, he is molding or shaping recycled materials into interesting abstract figures.
“It helps me to interpret things by which I am influenced though images. This is why I’m doing this after 30 years of putting art on hold,” he said. Customers who purchase his artwork are visibly moved by his portrayal of cats, turkeys or nature working in synergistic harmony.
The influential artist behind King’s works is an oldie but goodie from the 17th Century.
“Vermeer is one of my favorite painters for his mastery of light to convey mood,” King said, which explains the luminescence of the animals in his pastel renderings and by contrast the absence of light in his brooding landscapes. The drawings themselves are 3-D in quality simply because King is skillful in placing the lights and darks in proper perspective, yet arranging them in a stimulating fashion that’s out of the proverbial box.
The Morgan Hill resident has a wide range of style in expressing his ideals, some viewers may not realize the colorful abstracts he paints is from the same person who did the illuminated majestic lion piece. Why abstracts? King replied, “Abstractions are from my sub consciousness. There are no rules.” These deeply thought out pieces are freeing for King who enjoys painting them and are among his favorites. Although he loves the abstract world and representing those realities to the rest of us, King’s other paintings are widely embraced in the south valley where folks here prefer classical realism rather than avant garde art. For instance, he won 2006 Artist of the Year recently at the Valle Del Sur Artist Guild. King had stiff competition from several outstanding landscape painters yet he garnered the accolade easily enough due to his masterful adeptness with pastels. However, King won’t let this honor enlarge his head because of his humble childlike nature.
As for marketing his work, King is branching out into the community. His current solo art exhibit and sale will continue for another two weeks at the Buzz Stop on Monterey Road in downtown Morgan Hill. His passion for wildlife and domestic animals is such that he is donating 20 percent of the profits from his art sales to the International Humane Society and SPCA.
“I sell mostly animal portraitures because of my empathy with them as co-existent beings of our planet,” he said. “My emotions are expressed in each piece.”
Regarding future plans, King said, “I hope to firm up a marketing strategy this year and in five years have my art support me rather than I support it … I had much encouragement from family and peers. Leesa continues to be the greatest supporter of my career.”
