BIOGRAPHY

Tom Lewand is an artist who works in watercolors and oil.  

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He started painting at age  11, taking lessons at the Detroit Institute of Art.  He went on to enjoy a varied and extensive career in law, politics and art, and  continued painting as his family grew.  Tom and his wife Kathy (now married 56 years), have 4 children and 11 grandchildren.

A practicing lawyer for over 55 years, Tom’s clients have included heads of major auto companies, labor unions and non-profit organizations as well as two Governors and several Mayors. 

 

At age 65, Tom retired from his law career and enrolled as a full time art student at College for Creative Studies.  However, at age 67, Tom interrupted his art career to lead Economic Development for the City of Detroit when his long-time friend, Mike Duggan, became Mayor.  Now age 78 and in his second attempt at retirement, he  continues his love of painting, especially watercolors, and has been pursuing it full-time with some of the profession’s best painters and teachers.

 

In 2021, Tom was accepted in his first juried show.  Of over 200 works submitted, his "Farewell Blue Barrels" won one of the top 6 prizes.  The same year, Tom was given his first solo show where he sold all but one painting on opening night.

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Tom & Kathy divide their time between homes on Mackinac Island, Michigan and Coral Bay, St. John, Virgin Islands.

 

 

Artist's Statement

 

Nature and Humanity produce both extraordinary beauty and incredible devastation. In a world of pandemic quarantines, the climate crisis, unsettling political turmoil, and near world wars, I strive to depict the inspiring beauty of peaceful landscapes and vibrant, loving peoples as a way to focus the lens on the good in life.

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Just over 100 years ago, the Hudson River School and John Singer Sargent brilliantly captured both. Hudson River artists aimed to reflect the beauty of nature with an engraver’s precision. Sargent was the all-time master of reflecting his subject’s souls. Today, they inspire me to capture that beauty – whether an astonishing vista or remarkable person.