MY FIRST PLEIN AIR PAINTING OF 2008

“FIRST PAINTING OF 2008”
6X6 inch Original Oil Painting
Want this painting? Email me with an offer. tombrownart@gmail.com

I've been tagged by Liza Hirst. This is a fascinating new phenomenon among daily bloggers. I am sure you will see many more “tags” among bloggers in the coming months.

Here are the rules I was given when I was tagged:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

Okay everyone, here are 5 facts about me (some random, some weird):

1. I have wanted to be an artist since I was a toddler. My Mom and grandfather were artists. I was the illustrator for the school newspaper all through high school, and illustrated the yearbooks in my sophomore, junior and senior years. We won a national award for my senior yearbook. I spent a number of years in advertising before turning to fine art full time.

2. One of the most influential people in my life was Pop Storey, who owned the art school I went to in Cincinnati. He and his wife Nina virtually adopted me during my art school years and I formed a very close lifelong bond with them. Another major influence was Art Magee, who ran the top advertising illustration studio in Chicago. He was my first employer in advertising. Art taught me many things about life, art and kindness and emphasized that I pass it on. I’ve been doing that ever since.

3. I am the 4th of 8 children (5 boys, 3 girls).

4. Weight training has been a hobby since I discovered it as a 130 pound teenager. I eventually added enough muscle to bench press 305 pounds and deadlift 450 pounds. For a number of years I marketed my own mail order bodybuilding course quite successfully.

5. I spent my teen years in rural Kentucky. The virgin woods surrounding our home had been undisturbed since the time of Daniel Boone, and we often found Indian artifacts while hiking there. The entire area has now been developed as a series of housing tracts and the woods are gone.

I would like to tag these artists:
JUSTIN CLAYTON,
KARIN JURICK,
BELINDA DEL PESCO,
PETER YESIS,
J MATT MILLER

Today’s thought to smile about:
Hopes, dreams and possibilities for the year ahead