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“I want to document the place I call home.” That’s how artist Tom Mitts described his paintings in an early media interview. Tom grew up on 2nd Street in Newport, Kentucky, just a couple blocks south of the Ohio River, and many of his paintings focus on what he knew well: the houses and streetscapes of Newport and the river views north from Northern Kentucky.
But in the same interview, Tom made clear that his art is not purely documentary:
“In many ways, my subject is not so much about 2nd Street. It’s about what home looks like and feels like to me.”
In his art, Tom captured the light, atmosphere, and energy of the places that meant home to him, often while exploring the nuances of nighttime scenes. These included reflections of the Cincinnati skyline on the Ohio River; shadows cast from a truss bridge across the ground; or snow that has settled on a gateway and how it reflects light from a streetlamp.
Of course, people and pets can also mean home! Tom often painted the human form using oil and pastel—and painted images of his dogs, too!
