Tom Nielsen - Painter
Tom Nielsen
Oils- Portraits and Landscapes
Tom Nielsen b. 1948, Clinton, Iowa- brings to each canvas over five decades of painting experience. Beginning with lessons and encouragement by his grandmother- a talented artist herself- he began drawing with pastels at an early age and was oil painting by ten. He is largely self studied, devoting much attention to the disciplines and methods of artist he admires past and present as well as attending workshops by artists such as John Howard Sanden and Scott Newlyn School of painters and other naturalist painters of that era. During the first years of his career, Tom divided his time between graphic design and painting in the Washington D.C. area. Portraits dominated his artistic endeavors at first, but he longed to paint landscapes as well and gradually found a balance between the two disciplines. The result is an ability to include figures in his landscapes with life-like believability. In addition to his portraits and landscapes that can be found in collections worldwide, he designed a commemorative silver dollar for the U. S. Mint and a bronze medallion for the U. S. Congress. In 2004, landscapes he painted of Georgia’s Marshes of Glynn were given by Governor Sonny Perdue to each of the Leaders attending the G8 Sea Island Summit. Tom and his artist wife, Jan, share a studio in a historic building near the town square in Carrollton, Georgia and live in the loft above. They have four adult children.
A partial list of portrait subjects:
Congressman Glen M. Anderson Chamn House Committee on Public Works
Honorable Jesse Brown Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs
Senator Robert Byrd Senate Democratic Leader
President George Bush (1991) Vietnam Veterans Institute
Senator Alan Cranston California
Senator Robert Dole Senate Republican Leader
Congressman G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery Chmn. House Veterans Affairs Committee
Wayne Newton Entertainer
Honorable Anthony Principi Secretary, Department of Veteran Affairs
President Ronald Reagan The Reagan Library
Senator Alan Simpson Wyoming
Senator Strom Thurmond South Carolina
General William C. Westmoreland Former Army Chief of Staff
Admiral Elmo R. Zurnwalt, Jr. Former Chief of Navel Operations
Honorable Everett Alvarez, Jr. Author, longest held Vietnam POW
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