Tom Blood

@tombloodart

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About

I am a self-taught, modern day surrealist, heavily influenced by my all-time favorite artist, Rene Magritte. I paint ideas. My goal is to paint the impossible, or at least, the highly improbable. With my paintings, you can always tell what's going on, you just don't necessarily know why. With a journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a long career as a writer and Creative Director working for a variety of St. Louis-based advertising agencies, my paintings almost always tell stories. The name of each painting often gives clues as to its true meaning. In the past three years, my work has sold on five different continents. I have had more than 1,500,000 views of my work on three different websites since 2014. I have had multiple gallery shows at The Creative Gallery, as well as shows at 1900 Park - Creative Space and Gallery, Good Weather Gallery, The Airport Renaissance Hotel, Green Door Art Gallery and The Gallery located in Chesterfield. My work has been in numerous Art Saint Louis online galleries, has won best of show in Soulard Art Gallery competitions as well as MySLArt competitions. From September through December of 2022, I had my own Tom Blood Art Gallery space, featuring more than 50 of my paintings on display at The District in the Chesterfield Valley. To me, art is a journey. I invite all lovers of surreal, pop and fantasy art to come along for the ride.

Artist Statement

As a self-taught, modern-day surrealist, I am driven by a single mission: to paint ideas. My art is a visual playground where the ordinary collides with the extraordinary, inspired by the legacy of René Magritte and the vibrant energy of the St. Louis art scene. Recurring motifs—like the man in the bowler hat—serve as both homage and invitation, encouraging viewers to question not just what they see, but why they see it. Each painting is a carefully constructed narrative, balancing technical precision with conceptual intrigue. I use bold color contrasts, unexpected pairings, and a touch of humor to create scenes that are instantly recognizable yet deeply mysterious. Whether it’s a businessman facing a boulder-filled elevator or a figure adrift in a teacup on stormy seas, my work asks you to pause, reflect, and embrace the beauty of the unknown. My background in advertising taught me the power of visual storytelling, but it’s in fine art that I found the freedom to explore the improbable. Today, my paintings hang in homes and galleries across 14 countries, each one a testament to the universal appeal of curiosity and imagination. I invite you to join me on this journey—one step at a time—into a world where anything is possible, and every question is worth asking.