Members were welcomed back to our first meeting of the year on September 24, 2024 with a field trip! Tom Shea invited us to walk on down to his nearby Tom Shea Paints studio, located below Stanford Art Glass Studio on Main Street.
The studio’s setting is inspirational before you even enter: an historic cream-city brick building with sounds of the rushing Menomonee River in the woods just outside. As you enter, the studio space feels quaint and calming. In this space, Tom Shea paints.
Tom’s love for portraiture can be seen through myriad works hanging on the walls. Tom pointed out some endearing details within several portraits of family members. His expertise in this area brings him several commissions.
A laptop sits on a stand to the left of Tom’s easel. Tom uses the laptop to prepare a grid to first sketch out his subjects. This way, he is able to focus on the actual painting process with its color and brush work. The subject appears on his laptop screen, in Photoshop, for easy color and position reference. He’s definitely developed his own style utilizing water-based oils over the years. Tom’s painting style shows his brushwork and circular movement in the backgrounds. He feels people should know it’s a painting!
MFHS junior, Abby Ward, visited our meeting to tell and show us about her experience at UW-Whitewater’s Art Camp this past summer. Abby selected Reverse Painting and Digital Fundamentals for her two workshops during camp. She stayed on campus for the week and loved the faculty at UWW. Abby showed her reverse painting on plexiglass she did while at camp and explained the difficulty approaching a painting from behind by painting in the details first. Guild members delighted in asking Abby several questions and are always excited to hear from our scholarship winners upon their return.
