{"id":6398,"date":"2014-10-23T16:29:29","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T23:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/?p=6398"},"modified":"2014-10-30T08:37:15","modified_gmt":"2014-10-30T15:37:15","slug":"tom-langley-illustrator-and-painter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/tom-langley-illustrator-and-painter\/","title":{"rendered":"TOM LANGLEY – ILLUSTRATOR AND PAINTER"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/a>Tom Langley drawing on plate in Florence.\n

Tom Langley is a multi-talented individual who addresses each of his pursuits with the same intensity and commitment. He is an artist, photographer, musician, writer, and athlete (he is a passionate cyclist who can log 30 miles in one day).<\/p>\n

Langley\u2019s training as a fine artist and musician — he plays piano, trumpet, trombone and guitar — began in high school and continued into college. Fortunately for him and the rest of us, his high school teacher encouraged aestheticism and its acceptance.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy teacher made us understand that it was okay to be an artist,\u201d said Langley.<\/p>\nTolerance\n

School introduced him to the works of Edgar Degas and Toulouse Lautrec; he found their treatment of paint and the human figure fascinating. In college, drawing took center stage for Langley thanks to another influential teacher who had been a successful illustrator.<\/p>\n

Figure drawing continues to be a subject of keen interest to Langley, who has created an entire line of art based on figures he sketched on napkins in places like the News Caf\u00e9 in Miami Beach, Cuban coffee bars, and restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can get lost in drawing a single ear,\u201d said Langley.<\/p>\n

Langley grew up in rural Georgia where the stillness, quietude and solitude reinforced the development of his artistic technique. According to him, art is a bit of a roller coaster, with some good days and some not.<\/p>\n

When he was twenty, Langley met painter and sculptor Steffen Thomas at his studio in Georgia.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the first real working artist I ever met. His yard and house were filled with art,\u201d said Langley.<\/p>\nRush Hour\n

Langley\u2019s career includes being an illustrator creating storyboards for television commercials, drawing 30 to 40 frames a day. He decided this line of work wasn\u2019t for him because he wasn\u2019t happy about being told what to draw.<\/p>\n

He has worked as an art director and creative director. He left Georgia and moved to the Miami area in 1986. Here, he was part owner of an advertising agency for about eight years.<\/p>\n

The father of two daughters, Langley later divorced and later still, met the love of his, Auxi Damien Langley. They met on Miami Beach where Tom Langley was a regular at the News Caf\u00e9, creating his figures with marker on napkins several nights a week.<\/p>\n

By the 1990s, Langley rededicated himself to drawing, sketching, and painting. His paintings on large canvases, which he describes as \u201cnonrepresentational and spontaneous,\u201d are expressive abstracts with bold brush strokes. He has sold many of his works in the United States and around the world. However, he says of these paintings, \u201cI do it for me. Not others.\u201d<\/p>\nNews Caf\u00e9 drawing on a napkin.\n

During a recent trip to Florence, Italy, the Langleys were dining at the \u201cAcqua al Due\u201d restaurant. The owner invites artists, actors, singers, et al to draw on large white plates that she then places on display in the establishment. Auxi informed the owner that her husband was an artist, and Tom was invited to give it a try. He sketched the man sitting next to them. Turns out it was the owner\u2019s good friend. This plate went on display in a special lighted case in the restaurant (one of only three allowed).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a thrill and to top it off, we got free grappas to drink,\u201d said Langley.<\/p>\n

Contact the artist at tomlangleyartist@gmail.com. See his work at http:\/\/ and at Factory L located at 4565 SW 71st Avenue, Miami, 33155.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Langley is a multi-talented individual who addresses each of his pursuits with the same intensity and commitment. He is an artist, photographer, musician, writer, and athlete (he is a passionate cyclist who can log 30 miles in one day). Langley\u2019s training as a fine artist and musician — he plays piano, trumpet, trombone and<\/p>\n

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