davidtomlinartist

ARTIST STATEMENT

As a Canadian fine artist, I am passionate about painting a unique, contemporary expression of the interplay of light, colour, shape and texture. I am inspired by the sense of balance and design I discover in creation and am intrigued by the seemingly infinite variety of lines, spaces, textures, shapes and vibrant colours I find there.

I take several photographs of a subject and return to my studio to transform the scene into an abstracted and transfigured composition. I want the viewer to be excited by the textures, colours and shapes in my paintings. To create varied painting surfaces, I often use a mix of natural and created materials, including modelling paste, gels, silica sand, photo and stencil inserts in conjunction with acrylic or oil paint.

Together with a love of colour and a passion for design, my paintings evoke a sense of contemplative spirituality. The concept of ‘flourishing’ and what it means to thrive in life is a prominent theme in my artwork as I seek to create ‘contemporary artwork for a transfigured state of being.’
CURRICULUM VITAE

Education
• Graduate Certificate, Independent Studio Practice, Haliburton School of Art + Design, Fleming College, Peterborough, Canada, 2018
• Master of Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, 1981
• Bachelor of Education, Toronto Teacher Education College, Toronto, Canada, 1977
• Bachelor of Arts, York University, Toronto, Canada, 1976

BIOGRAPHY

David Tomlin is a Canadian artist who pursues his talent through painting and coursework at the Haliburton School of Art and Design (Ontario, Canada). David was born in Kingston, Ontario and was an Ontario elementary school principal in Toronto until his retirement. David has developed his unique style over the course of 20 years of painting and learning. He has participated in numerous art and gallery shows and many of his paintings are in private collections in Ontario, Alberta, Florida, New York, France and Germany. David develops his paintings from his many on-location digital photos and works from his studios in Toronto, Ontario and Miami Beach, Florida.

David was first inspired by the work of impressionist painters who capture a feeling or experience of life as a visual impression by exploring the changing effects of light and colour on a subject. This style is reflected in many of David’s earlier paintings and it continues to influence his painting techniques.

As an artist interested in developing a uniquely Canadian body of work, David became drawn to landscape paintings which employ a different visual language to depict the wild and stark beauty of Canada’s landscapes. Featuring abstracted shapes in vibrant colour, his paintings evoke the tension between the opposing forces of order and chaos found in nature. Each surreal landscape is created to evoke emotion and dialogue, inviting the viewer to reflect on their own experience of such an encounter.

David finds additional inspiration in the painting techniques of the First Nations artists, particularly those who explore humanity’s relationship to nature. Many of David’s latest works attempt to bridge these two artistic expressions to create his own unique interpretation of a landscape. The resulting strain between these varied expressions of created order evoke the effects of humankind’s tendency to impose his will and control over nature to create a transformed reality. The results can display goodness, truth, and beauty or profoundly distort and debase creation in the service of the opposite.

What ultimately inspires David is his desire to visually express those moments which connect humanity with the divine, in all its variations. Each of his paintings expresses some aspect of David’s search for goodness, truth, and beauty in life. He approaches each painting as an opportunity to think, feel and create. His desire to integrate these artistic influences in his paintings continue to guide him in deepening and broadening his voice as a Canadian painter.