HOME // THE ARTIST
Tom Nielsen - b. 1948, Clinton, Iowa - brings to each canvas over five decades of painting experience. Beginning with lessons and encouragement by his grandmother - a talented artist herself - he began working with pastels at an early age and was oil painting by ten. He is largely self studied, devoting much attention to the disciplines and methods of artists he admires past and present. As well, he has attended the workshops of portrait artist John Howard Sanden and landscape painter Scott Christensen. A realist at heart, his paintings reflect his love for marine and landscape paintings by artists from the golden age of traditional painting. Born and raised in America's heartland, his childhood was filled with one adventure after  another on the backwaters of the Mississippi River. Dreams of going to sea led Tom to join the Navy after high school. After several years of life aboard ships on the high seas and small boats deep in enemy infested jungle rivers, he returned to his home town where he established his first studio aboard a houseboat. Later, he moved to the Washington, D.C. area where he divided his time between graphic design and painting. Portraits dominated his career at first, but he longed to paint landscapes and seascapes as well and gradually found a balance between the two disciplines. Marine subjects, whether inland rivers, coastal marshes or thundering surf have become the focus of his recent work.
A concerned veteran, he has also created a number of works in honor of those who serve our nation. Among them: a silverdollar for the U.S. Mint, a bronze medallion for the U.S. Congress and numerous patriotic prints & posters. In 2004, his coastal paintings of The Marshes of Glynn were given by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to each of the world Leaders attending the G8 Sea Island Summit. Tom and his artist wife, Jan, share a studio in a historic building near the town square in Carrollton, Georgia and live in the loft above. They have four adult children.
Member: Carrollton Artists Guild & Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists
A partial list of public and private collections:
Department of Veterans Affairs
Auburn University
Mississippi State University
Morris Museum of Art
United States House of Representatives
South Carolina State Museum
The Reagan Library |
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Dana Corporation
National Guard Building, Washington, DC Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.
General William C. Westmoreland
President George Bush
President Jacques Chirac, France
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Germany |
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Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Italy
Prime Minister Tony Blair, UK
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Japan
President Vladimir Putin, Russia
Prime Minister Paul Martin, Canada
Bethesda Naval Hospital
United States Mint |
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