Living Well in Litchfield County, Connecticut

Views & Vistas

Natural beauty, stunning landscape, by local artists
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THIS MONTH'S FEATURED ARTIST

Thomas Adkins

Thomas Adkins is a seasoned veteran of plein air painting. Most works begin with on location studies 16” x 20” or smaller. Adkins then composes larger works in his studio, compiling sketches, additional studies and from memory. His most recent works have been in Woodbury and Southbury, along with works of the Down East coast of Maine.
A Southbury resident, Thomas Adkins is a graduate of Paier College of Art of New Haven. After graduate classes at the School of Visual Arts of New York, he worked as art director and creative director for some of Connecticut’s and New York’s most prestigious advertising agencies.
Adkins has won numerous awards for his designs, illustrations and paintings. His work has been purchased by GE, IBM, Kraft, Minolta, Hilton Hotels, Timex, Wendy’s and other major corporations.
Twice exhibiting in the Mystic International Marine Exhibition, Thomas has had many one-man shows and group shows. His work is carried by prestigious galleries, such as Cavalier Gallery, Bayview Gallery and PH Miller Galleries throughout New England.
Adkins’ concept of landscape painting is to preserve his emotional reaction to the moods, feelings and perceptions of nature and sharing them with others. “Every good landscape painting should have a sense of what the artist is feeling to a particular location. Every day and every hour there is a different affect nature has on our senses.”
As a contemporary painter of the New England landscape, Adkins is inspired by frequent visits to the neighboring farms, coast villages, and pastures of Connecticut and Maine. His style and technique have developed from early influences by impressionistic painters of light on nature, such as Monet, Pissaro and Willard Metcalf, and contemporary painter Peter Poskas. Adkins has the rare ability to capture the subtle nuances that make up the ever-changing beauty of light on the New England landscape in a realistic, contemporary way.
“My paintings spring from a lifelong fascination with the outdoors. This fascination, present even in my earliest memories, has greatly influenced my personal, academic and professional pursuits, and most significantly, my artwork. The moods, mystery, and atmosphere along with inherent design of nature intrigue me, and I seek to unveil and express those qualities in my paintings, trying to document a specific place and time. It is self-evident that single family farms and working harbors are threatened and rapidly vanishing. Still, there is a physical, emotional, and spiritual that remains evident. I choose to capture what still remains, rather than what has been lost. Rooted in contemporary realism, my paintings are characterized by the thoughtful process of composition using nature’s and man-made elements to evoke a true sense of place. They are subtle in color and strong in mood. My paintings are all oils on linen in sizes from 8 x 10 through 40 x 60. Small sizes being produced in Plein Air, and larger ones in the studio from location studies.”
Thomas Adkins’ work can be viewed at the Gregory James Gallery in New Milford.
For more about Thomas Adkins and his paintings, go to his website: thomasadkinsfineart.com.
To contact him: tom@sabinc.com or at 203.262.1696.

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