Thomas Shelford’s artwork explores modern allegorical themes using the techniques of 19th-century Naturalism.
Biography
It has been a privilege to see my work exhibited in venues such as the public collection of the U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands at The Hague, the Grenning Gallery of Sag Harbor New York, Gilles Larrain’s SoHo studio in New York City, and the Salmagundi Club of New York City - where I also served as a Board Member.
As a former classical drawing instructor at the Long Island Academy of Fine Art, I have a passion for teaching workshops and private lessons, providing demonstrations, and hosting art salon events.
Following a self-directed path through art education focused on the nineteenth-century French academic tradition, I enrolled in the part-time program for several years at the Grand Central Atelier in New York City, founded by Jacob Collins. I am grateful to have studied in the studio with Robert Armetta, Jon DeMartin, Travis Schlaht, Edward Minoff, Brian Schumacher, and Richard Piloco.
Subscribing to the Renaissance model of the artist as polymath, my academic interests are eclectic and include an undergraduate minor in Mathematics which informs my classical aesthetic.
Perspective
“Art is the inspired exercise of a craft for the purpose of intentionally conveying to others, through external indications, the emotions that the artist experienced.”
In this era of commoditized images, oil painting provides a medium for authentic self-expression that also fulfills core human needs for transcendence and relatedness.
Realistic paintings based on skillful observation of nature allow the artist to employ a universal visual vocabulary, inspiring the viewer through the collective unconscious syntax that is found in music and mathematics.
The idea of Beauty is a most challenging, complex, and rewarding area of artistic exploration. Encompassing philosophy, psychology, spirituality and the collective history of humanity, classical notions of Beauty imbue artwork with intrinsic meaning independent of contemporary marketing, trends in critical discourse, and narrow political agendas. I hope to re-connect with traditional painting practices from the 17th and 19th centuries, applying this rich heritage to contemporary subject matter.
Many important ideas about the human condition contain paradoxes that do not lend themselves to abstraction or simplification. These paradoxes, which permeate the spiritual and literary heritage of all cultures, naturally lend themselves to allegorical visual expression. In my opinion, it is the task of the artist to give form to these ideas by combining inspiration with intentional craftsmanship. This skillful pursuit of Beauty, inspired by careful observation, is central to humanity's collective drive to pursue a meaningful existence.