Tom Blood was born in St. Louis, Missouri on November 19, 1957. Even in grade school, Tom’s artistic talent was often on display. He created the ComicCorner for his weekly grade school paper featuring his rather off-the-wall drawings and captions. His ability to scale art received an early test when he created giant, cutout characters from the Beetle Bailey comic strip that became the focus of a float for an all-school parade. In high school, that ability to scale art was also reflected in a 20-foot x 10-foot painting for his high school ring dance where he re-created the artwork of Roger Dean. He also created a series of murals that were painted on his high school walls that remained on display for more than 10 years after his graduation.

One of Tom’s cousins was an artist. Tom saw firsthand how difficult it was to make a living as a full-fledged artist. So Tom pursued a journalism degree with a focus on advertising at the University of Missouri-Columbia, graduating in May of 1980.

Tom went on to become an award-winning writer and Creative Director, working for a variety of advertising agencies in St. Louis, Missouri. His love affair with art continued, but was more focused on design than actual painting.

In 1989, based on somewhat of a dare from what became his ex-fiance, Tom began painting, pursuing an unusual combination of airbrush and acrylic art. Tom used his inherent talent to scale to create large format paintings.

His early works were largely experimental. It was during this timeframe that Tom discovered the works of Rene Magritte, the Belgian surrealist.  The startling imagery of Magritte, combined with his outstanding brushwork put Magritte at the top of Tom’s list. The works of Roy Lichtenstein, Mark Kostabi and Guy Billout were also early influencers but all paled next to the mastery of Magritte.

Many of Tom’s paintings began reflecting a simplified surrealistic look and in 1991, he had his first gallery showing at the Creative Gallery in Clayton, Missouri.

Tom continued to pursue his artistic talents, painting by night and writing by day. He went on to have additional gallery shows in 1993 and 1994. Upon the birth of his third child in 1997, Tom’s painting room was turned into a downstairs bedroom – and his painting days came to an abrupt halt.  That hiatus lasted almost 17 years.

In June of 2014, Tom’s oldest son gave him a rather unique Father’s Day gift. It consisted of two, small canvasses – one 8″ x 10″, another 10″ x 14″ and two small tubes of paint. The challenge from his son was simple – “You’re too good to let your talent not be put to use. Paint again.”

It took almost two months until Tom accepted the challenge. He created a small painting on one of the canvasses.  His technique was poor – but that painting spurred him on. He finished the other canvas. Then he went out and bought another one.

His quest was simple – to get better as a painter. That is something that continues to this day as Tom pursues his own surrealistic path, still heavily influenced by Magritte while at the same time developing a style that is all his own.  Painting the impossible or at least the highly improbable, continues to be the driving force behind most of his work.

SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS: First Gallery Showing – Creative Gallery, Clayton, Missouri 1991 – featured with Stan Solomon
Solo Gallery Show – Creative Gallery, Clayton, Missouri, 1993
Solo Gallery Show – Creative Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri, 1994
MySLArt.org 33 Show – March, 2014 – Best of Show, People’s Choice
MySLArt.org 33 Show – November, 2015, People’s Choice
Soulard Art Gallery – Honorable Mention, 2016, 2017
1900 Park Creative Space and Gallery – solo show featuring 28 of my paintings, March, 2017
Private purchase of four paintings by Michael Staenberg, August, 2018
Featured Artist of the Month – Ladue News, September, 2018
Solo exhibition – Renaissance Airport Hotel – featured artist of the month, June, 2019
Cover art: Key To Success Painting and inside feature: Gesso Magazine, September, 2019

EDUCATION: 
University of Missouri-Columbia, Bachelor of Journalism – May, 1980

In order to do the extraordinary, you must resist the ordinary.