My SPOTS Gold Award — presented by the Society of Publication Designers for my work in Harper’s Magazine (March, 2009).

In addition to being an artist, photographer, illustrator…I also spend a fair amount of time volunteering for Brookview School (I created the templates for the site). Last year, I photographed, rendered and designed the cover for Brookview’s self-published book, FAMILY GUIDE TO BERRIEN COUNTY. It’s a comprehensive resource for all-things-fun in Michigan’s southwest corner.

The Wall Street Journal – Belated update.

This weekend marks my debut as a contributor to the Wall Street Journal. I received an email on Monday asking if I could create something for the back page of the weekend edition. The request ended with, “And we’d pay whatever you like…dying to get you in the paper!!!” How often does anyone hear that? I received the copy Monday afternoon. On Tuesday(comps were due Wednesday), I drove south to a new, used bookstore in Stevensville—Mr. Jack’s Paperbacks. It was a total bust (I never saw so many romance novels in one place in all of my life). From there, I headed back toward home and continued north to my reliable source—Black River Books in South Haven. However, I totally forgot that they were closed on Tuesday’s. Slightly panicked, I returned home, read over the copy two more times and began shuffling through the same old books that I’ve looked at many times before. That’s when the proverbial truck hit me because my cast of characters were already here. I pulled out my toolbox and had everything cut out, glued down, lit up and sent off in no time at all.

This appeared in my inbox 20 minutes later:

Oh my God, Thomas. What an amazing job you’ve done! Everyone is in LOVE with it. You are brilliant, and you were the perfect choice for this. What a great title to come across! And the cutouts are spot-on…  I cannot thank you or praise you enough!!!!!

How’s that for ‘feel good’?!

When I reopened the original file to prep the high-resolution version, I didn’t like how it was illuminated so I exposed it again — this time with a soft box. While it was definitely better, the global corrections improved some areas while degrading others so I needed to try a different approach. I profiled both of my displays, made more coffee, cleaned my glasses, sat down, fired up Girl Talk, laced my fingers together and cracked my knuckles, unplugged my fully-charged Logitech Performance MX mouse and got to work.

Eleven hours and 46 Photoshop adjustment layers later, I hit ‘save’ for the last time and called it ‘done’. Look for it in all of its 8.5″ x 5.75″ glory.

For an exclusive “backstage” peek at what the construction looks like from behind, head over to Super Punch.

Leaving for the airport in just a few short hours. This is my first trip to the  Pacific Northwest. If you’re in the area and looking for something to do Thursday night, stop by G. Gibson Gallery.

I started this pseudo self-promo a couple of years ago, but became frustrated by the aging processor in my old Powerbook that failed to consistently sync the soundtrack with the visuals. I finally threw up my hands and walked away from it — until a few months ago when I was invited to Tulsa to give a public presentation at the Philbrook Museum of Art. Equipped with a new MacBook Pro and the latest version of Apple’s Keynote, I trashed the original and started over with all new elements. Possessed by a perfectionist mindset, I was obsessed with getting every detail correct – from typeface to transition. Since my ADHD brain craves and feeds on the rush of an impending deadline, I finished ripping the final version in my hotel room, minutes before my ride arrived to take me to the museum! I was an even better rush occurred when PAPER CUTS blasted onto a screen that was bigger than my house in jaw-dropping color, amazing clarity and backed a thumping soundtrack—a Verve remix of Sarah Vaughan’s FEVER by Max Sedgely—that shook the entire auditorium.

Even though it’s much smaller here, I hope (fingers crossed) you enjoy it:

PAPER CUTS

(NOTE: It’s best when viewed full-screen)

Several weeks ago, I received an email from a student in south Texas. Alex stated that he was writing about me for a class project and wondered if I could help him out by answering some questions. How could any artist refuse such a kind and flattering request? I wrote a short bio, sent him a slew of lo-res jpegs and a video clip. Yesterday, my inbox reaped the rewards of my effort. This is the best part about being an artist.

I know – it’s been a very long time and I’ll be playing catch-up for a while. In the meantime, here’s a little something I did for Dance Gazette – the official magazine of the Royal Academy of Dance in London. At first, they wanted to use a few existing images for free. When asked what the press deadline was and offered to make something expressly for them (sometimes you do things for the sake of it being interesting). The art director was beside himself with joy and said he could hold off for a while and that they would pay me a ‘little something’. I had it finished in under a week. The word ‘gushing’ doesn’t come close to the response I received when the file was opened on the other end!!!

After being detained by customs agents at the UPS sort facility in Louisville, KY for over 3 months, my copy of FUTURE IMAGES (©2009 24 ORE Motta Cultura srl, Milan) finally arrived. Edited by Mario Cresci the book is intended to explore at an international level the works of some of the emerging artists who use the photographic medium without adopting the generic schemata of traditional photography.  Its release nearly coincided with the opening of my exhibition at 1000 eventi gallery in Milan last month (more on this later). Artists are presented alphabetically, making it one of those times in life when having a last name that begins with the letter ‘A’ a good thing!