TOM CHIPLEY
| Acrylics, Pen and Ink, Mixed Media |
Website: The Existential Garage E-mail: tchipley@shentel.net |
Move your cursor over any image to see an enlargement.
Born
in 1941, I studied Industrial Design at North Carolina State University
School of Design, and have worked in Industrial Design or Graphic
Design all of my life. Much of my work has been art for publication.
I have designed riding toys, radio-controlled model airplanes,
technical instruments, and cases for power tools. My designs for riding
toys received national acclaim in ID (Industrial Design) magazine at
the time.
I have sold art to ROAD&TRACK as well as ROD&CUSTOM
magazine, MODEL AVIATION magazine, science teacher’s
magazines, and EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) publications.
I have two grown daughters, and currently live with my wife, a cat, one
old dog, three or four ghosts, and a dancing bear on the side of a
small mountain somewhere in the Shenandoah Valley.
Life is good.
The central, all-powerful theme in my artwork is the ubiquitous
line…that fine element that pares figure from
ground… the precise spot where colors overlap, enabling the
eye to define form out of background.
She may indeed be cheap, common, and badly used by many, but I fell in
love with the Line decades ago as a very young student and, even though
all artists court her and attempt to mold her to their will, it is
still a delight when she responds to me.
It is far from a platonic relationship, yet it’s pointless to
be jealous of her other suitors…for I do not own her, and
she teases them as remorselessly as she torments me.
She is a pandering, beguiling working girl who wanders the streets
between jobs , strutting under the lights from pencil, to brush, or to
pen. Seduction requires both love and patience, and often the most
exciting moments happen accidentally, yet when everything
works…when the light and the music is right…when
the Line and the Muse dance close and passionately, magic happens, and
something exciting is conceived.