Thomas Easley is a figurative American painter known for his bold, kinetic artwork that straddles a fine line between impressionism and abstract art. His art reflects a lifelong effort to live in the moment and share how he sees the world - dynamic, multidimensional and full of contrasts.
He was born in Oroville, California, in 1949 and raised in Lake Tahoe where he explored professional skiing and music before becoming an artist in his late 20s. He began as a classical realist in England, specializing in miniature paintings, portraiture, manuscript illuminations and heraldry. Later, in Italy, he painted large-scale architectural landscapes, floral still life and nudes. He moved to India in the 1990s where he immersed himself in dimensional realism, surrealism and allegorical works.
After two decades in Europe and Asia, Easley returned to the United States in the early Aughts and began experimenting with a mixture of styles and mediums. Late one night, struck by inspiration, and finding no canvas at hand, he pulled out a large piece of board used as stiffening for his mattress and began painting his vision in a burst of energy. What emerged is a style that melds the traditional with the new to create a blend that is uniquely his own. Using palette knives to layer and sculpt paint on board, Easley creates a rush of color, texture and form that dramatizes contrasts on multiple levels. He builds images with energy and light that evoke a visceral connection in the viewer.
He lives in New York's Hudson Valley with his wife and two sons.