After much delay, I'm proud to present my latest solo show "Mid-Century in 2020 Postponed". This show was impacted due to Covid, hence the title, and had to be pushed back to March 2021. The influence for this body of work came to be from my wife and I looking for a house and discovering mid-century modern homes. Not only was I impressed by the architecture of the style and era, I became fascinated with items from this time period too.  What I enjoy the most about these items from the 50's and 60's is how they distinctly different they look from items before or after them. These objects are encapsulated in an era of forward thinking and designs that are still beautiful today. Portraying this beauty is the objective of this group of work, not to mention the monumental amount of nostalgia.      

Like shows in the past, it will be held at McCormick Gallery in Chicago. The opening day will be March 6th and run through April 24th. I will be at the gallery March 6th to meet guests, but by appointment only. There is a 10 person max at the gallery, so please contact me if you would like to stop by on the 6th. I will schedule a time for you to visit. Otherwise, Tom is in the gallery Tuesday-Thursday 10ish to 3ish  and you can always see the show at anytime by scheduling with the gallery at gallery@thomasmccormick.com . To go to the gallery site, Click Here

October has been jam packed month. Luckily, it's all good news. I'll start with the competitions.

My painting "Coke Carrier" exhibited in the 32nd Annual Northern National Art Competition and won top prize, an Award of Excellence - outstanding for a little 12" x 12" piece! Then, later this month, "Drinking Happy Bird" picked up 3rd Place in 41st Annual Whitewater Valley Art Competition. 

To add to the excitement, McCormick Gallery found a home for "Kik Bak Paddle Board", a painting that goes back to my first solo show.

Finally, the most exciting news, Kate and I are officially land owners! We bought 1.5 acres in Homer Glen, IL, a southwest suburb of Chicago. It's a heavily wooded corner lot in a unique 3 home cul-de-sac; soon to be 4. We are beyond excited to start building our dream home.   

Today I completed the "Royal Empress" typewriter painting, my most intricate and time consuming piece to date. I'm aware I'm not the first artist to paint a typewriter, but I must say that not only is this the coolest typewriter I've seen, it was also my grandmother's.

My grandmother grew up during the depression and had a husband serve in the 2nd World War. She was one of those strong, independent women of the Greatest Generation. As for many after the war, the 50's were a good economic time and they built their dream home in 1964. They furnished it with many mid-century modern pieces of the time - an era and style I've really come to appreciate.

Like many who lived through the depression, my grandparents kept and saved most of what they worked for. Nothing of value was tossed because it fell out of fashion. I believe this is why this typewriter was never replaced. It still served it's purpose for all the years my grandma used it. Perhaps this is also a testament to the craftsmanship of the piece.

With that said, both my parents worked when I was a kid and as a result, I spent a lot of time at my grandparent's house. I have fond memories there and seeing my grandma typing away on this Royal typewriter is one of them. No, she wasn't an author, but she was a damn good record keeper and librarian; from every receipt to book she owned, which was many to say the least.

My grandmother battled dementia/Alzheimer's for the last several years, and was forced to sell the house in 2018. While helping clean out her home, I came across the typewriter. I hadn't seen it in years - what a mid-century gem! Most typewriters are square and boxy, but this Royal Empress is sleek and curvy. It's also very large, weighing 33 lbs. I knew when I saw it, it would make a great painting.     

​Unfortunately, my grandmother never would see this painting completed. After many years of declining health, she passed away this June at the age of 93. I feel part of her will live on in this painting and I'm thankful for all the wonderful memories.

​On a random side note, it occurred to me this will be my last painting I will complete in my 20's. Ugh, 30...                 

Like many artists, I was approached through my Instagram page to submit my artwork to 1340 Magazine. It cost me $30 in hope of being one of the lucky few to have my work published. After doing so, I did a quick internet search on 1340 Magazine to see what other artists were saying about it. Unfortunately, many claimed that the magazine is a scam with others agreeing. Initially I thought, "Crap, I'm out 30 bucks". I apply to a lot of art shows and competitions online and I viewed 1340 Magazine as a chance to have my paintings published. 

Fast forward a couple months later and I received an email saying my work was accepted into the magazine and I would receive my free copy within a few weeks. In my case, this first copy never showed up. Luckily, I kept that email and responded back asking for another copy. To to their word, I did eventually receive my magazine, and yes, it's legit. See the proof below. 

While I'm not exactly on the 1st page, I am featured. So for those who say this 1340 is a scam, it is not. It's simply another opportunity to have a chance for your work to be seen by others. I don't view this any different from art shows where you pay a fee, submit your art, and maybe you will be accepted. Being published in a magazine is expensive, I've done it; well, my gallery helped pay the bill. The truth is, if you want to be completely confident you will be printed, it will cost about 10 times the amount 1340 Magazine asks for. 

If you read my last post, you would have seen a very high resolution image of my latest completed painting, the Coke Carrier. Having a high resolution image of my work has interested me since I first saw the Google Art Project (now called Google Arts & Culture) 7 or 8 years ago. This is a collection of images of famous artworks from various museums around the world. Many of the images are of such a high resolution, you can zoom in and see brushstrokes, cracks in the paint layer, and even dust. But what was even more impressive was how much detail some of the artists were capturing in the painting. The one piece that stands out for me was "The Ambassadors", by Hans Holbein the Younger. Here is a link for you to check it out - (The Ambassadors). Zoom in anywhere in the painting and you find incredible detail. While you are on the Google site, be sure to look at some Rembrandt paintings. 

Obviously detail in artwork isn't everything, and nor will it replace the ever important content factor of a piece. I don't paint paint all the little details in my work to show off, I simply just like how it looks and enjoy the challenge. Art is a form of entertainment and I find detail in painting entertaining; this is what I'm looking to add to my work - just an extra bit of entertainment.

Being fascinated with high resolutions on Google, I often wondered how such large images were created. Sure there are large format film cameras that create big images, but I don't have access to those. Even though digital camera manufacturers are cramming a lot of megapixels (i.e. 24MP, 36MP, 42MP, 50MP!) into their image sensors these days, that's still not enough resolution to create The Ambassador's size photo. My guess is that they are using digital cameras, but photographing the painting multiple times creating many small images that can be stitched to together in a software to create one large image.

To see if I was capable of doing this for my own work, I tried photo stitching images of my Coke and Cooler painting. There are plenty of YouTube videos demonstrating this technique in Photoshop. It took me a few attempts, but I was able to string along eight images and have Photoshop correctly align and stitch them together. The most important thing I learned was to provide plenty of overlap in each photo - something like 30%. This allows Photoshop more information for where each image should be placed. As you can see from the image below, the technique was a success. I used a Canon SL2 (24MP) with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 to achieve this 95.5MP photograph. Okay Google, I have a large image of my painting, please add me to your site! 

Click the image below to enlarge and zoom in. 

My "Drinking Happy Bird" painting has been making some noise in the 74th Annual Wabash Valley Exhibition at the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana. At the opening reception it won an Artistic Award of Recognition, but now that the show has ended the results are in for the People's Choice Award. "Drinking Happy Bird" was selected among all the pieces in the exhibit as the public's favorite. It was a pleasant surprise - I've never won a popularity contest in my life lol!

This painting should be coming home next week. I think I will find another show to submit it to. I've had good luck with this piece. 

​With one painting returning, I'll be sending another out to Naples Florida. "Jailhouse Rock" has been accepted into Naples Art Association's "National Art Encounter".  Without any big solo shows this year, I like to stay busy with these national art competitions. ​

Finally!!! I started this painting over a year ago and just finished it last week. As with most things, this piece took longer than I anticipated. I worked on it on and off through out the year. It measures 40" x 32" and as always, oil on panel. The "Coke and Cooler" painting is the largest painting I've done since 2011. The original plan didn't call for a lady bug, but I thought I needed something to get the viewer closer to surface of the painting. Hopefully, I can submit this to some local competitions, and then later feature it in my next solo show.