Tom Curry
Thomas J. Curry, a passionate artist and Maine resident, struggled in his early years to find his own pathway. After a year of studying at a traditional college preparatory school, Curry began his formal commitment to art when he was accepted at Rhode Island School of Design. Curry flourished in that environment, first majoring in sculpture and then switching to painting in his sophomore year and graduating in 1981.
Curry spent a year at Yale School of Fine Art but soon gave in to Hawaii's lure, moving there to paint from nature. It was in Hawaii that he developed his well-known style using hand-crafted pastel oil sticks. In 1987, having gotten Hawaii out of his system, Curry moved to Boston, where he attended the University of Massachusetts and completed his masters in fine art.
Curry’s path then took him to Maine, where he says about his life, “I still can’t believe how gorgeous it is; it’s serene but disheveled; it’s raw and not overly organized.” To those of us who are passionate about Tom Curry’s work, we cannot help but notice his accomplished technique, his ease in presenting his vision, and how he supercharges the brightness that makes one sense the “wildness and joy” inherent in living in Maine. Curry is at heart a plein air pastel artist and an accomplished oil painter. He is most at home on a hillside, perched over a Maine harbor, often sitting on a fieldstone wall, totally focused, totally absorbed, totally engrossed in creating.
In 2012, Curry achieved another milestone with the publication of his book Island: the Paintings of Tom Curry by Down East Books.
Artwork
