Tom Liesegang

super yacht industry

2010-03-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

the latest feature published on orka fine arts in the march issue of super yacht industry.

a floating studio

2010-03-05T05:37:00.000-08:00

"dusk from pierland island" watercolor on paper. image size: 10.5 x 24.5 cm 2009 artist's collection

"approaching storm" watercolor on paper. image size: 10 x 15 cm. 2008 artist's collection

"untitled" watercolor on paper. 10. x 13 cm. 2006 artist's collection

catharina & i are involved in a 'menage a trois' and her name is georgina, our beloved 1939 bakdekcrusier. when we first laid eyes on her and stepped aboard, we were seduced by her elegant sweeping lines, her plumb bow, teak interior and headroom throughout. we restored her ourselves: 2 weeks of dirty back-breaking work but we loved every minute of it. she has become our studio on the water where i like to do small watercolors as pictured above. the perfect long weekend getaway and the official 'flagship' of orka fine arts.

the scream

2010-03-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

"the scream" (self portrait) oil on canvas with lightbox and x-ray. 43 x 81 x 10 cm. 2005 artist's collection

I had myself x-rayed while screaming for this piece. poverty, corruption, injustice, CNN, NBC doling out a constant stream of fear and anxiety while we sit back, turn a knob for enough steaming hot water to fill a swimming pool while people are living on top of garbage heaps living under corregated tin shacks while bankers are paying themselves obscene bonuses while kids are being sent away to die in the name of 'freedom' while corporate greed has us all by the throats, while poor people are given 25 years for misdemeanors while the planet dies beneath our feet while polar bears drown..................it all just makes me want to SCREAM.

redefining marine art

2010-03-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

"lost at sea" acrylic, cement, spray paint on canvas 107 x 183 cm. 1986 private collection

marine art is not a subject tackled by many contemporary artists as a means of artistic expression as opposed to illustration. it was a theme i delved into in the 80's. as a story of human drama, man against the sea as the visual narrative, it makes for compelling subject matter if removed from the illustrative embrace of sentimental romanticism.

maps

2010-03-01T08:20:00.001-08:00

"zealous" acrylic, pencil, ink, collage on paper 101 x 70 cm. 1992 artist's collection

there is something intrinsically beautiful about maps and i don't know an artist who is not drawn to them in some way. i can understand why antique maps are highly sought after by collectors. their simplicity of composition and color combination is what attracts the eye. over the years, i've based aspects of my work on them and continue to this day, as in the print titled, '4you' pictured below. to view some others, click on OLDER POSTS at the bottom of the page.

the martyr series 1990 - 1991

2010-02-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

'the stoning of st. stephan' acrylic, oil, cement, gold-leafed box containing a rock on canvas 117 x 214 cm. 1990 artist's collection

stoning is the oldest form of capital punishment and is still in use today throughout parts of the middle east and africa. it is usually carried out by a local mob and most victims today are usually women accused of adultery. for the taliban, it is the preferred method of punishment for many crimes. it does not take much imagination to realize the horror.

'martyrdom of margaret clitherow' acrylic, cement, press type, gold-leafed box containing a brass weight on canvas (triptych) app. 61 x 140 cm. overall. collection: decordova museum, mass. usa

margaret clitherow was well respected in her community. in a fit of collective religious zeal, she was executed for a minor offense in york in 1586. she was stretched out on the ground, arms and legs tied to posts. a sharp rock was placed under her back and a heavy wooden door laid on top of her body. rocks and boulders were then thrown on top, slowly crushing her. the stone at her back forced her spine to snap. man's inhumanity to man knows no boundaries and its usually carried out in the name of god. go figure! while i was working on this series, in the back of my mind i was operating in a state of disbelief, that people are more than willing to kill one-another based on their spirituality. makes me want to scream.

4you

2010-02-12T08:35:00.000-08:00

"4 you" screenprint and watercolor on etched 3 mm. aluminum plate 65 x 50 cm. 2009

newest print for dutch superyacht builder heesen. custom frame (not pictured) created from the same wood used throughout the ship's interior. gift to the owner on behalf of heesen yachts.

2010-02-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

for their annual yearbook, heesen yachts devoted several pages titled, "the making of a print" which documented the print process in the creation of 'jems2', a print on aluminum presented to the owner of the boat. the entire process was shot by dutch photographer, jan willem steenmeijer. see also: art for the maritime industry under categories.

drawing

2010-02-10T06:41:00.000-08:00

no title. crayons on paper 1961 artist's collection

picasso once said, "I was an artist in my mother's womb." i guess i was too judging from the way i signed and dated this drawing. this is me in front of my house that had a big tree in front. i actually like the composition of this!
because of my incessant drawing, my parents took me to the 1964 world's fair in NY to see michelangelo's pieta in the vatican pavilion. it was my first 'art experience'. i clearly remember gliding past on a slow 'conveyor' belt, in awe, holding my mother's hand. "look tommy, he carved this from a single block of marble! look at the veins in his hands!" i knew from that moment i wanted to be an artist.

clipper

2010-02-10T06:34:00.000-08:00

"clipper" oil on canvas. 46 x 61 cm. 1967 artist's collection

i took a few painting lessons when i was 12 and i was the only kid amongst adults. i quit to play little league baseball. the teacher was not too pleased with my descison. i remember his sarcastic parting words, " good luck with your baseball career!" my pitching career with the yankees never materialized so he was probably right: i should've stayed.

shipwreck

2010-02-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

"shipwreck" acrylic on canvasboard 45 x 61 cm. 1969 artist's collection

i painted this in junior high school. i was 14. my art teacher recognized my talent and provided me with a space where i could come and work after school hours. i remember him saying, " i wish this wasn't so easy for you."

its not. especially when you're confronting a blank canvas 2 meters square.

seascape

2010-02-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

"seascape" acrylic on canvasboard 23 x 35.5 cm. 1972 artist's collection

i did this when i was 16 and a junior in high school. my attachment to the sea is part of what defines me. when encountering a work of art, a truly wonderful experience is when the work transcends the consciousness, almost on the level of a spiritual encounter, as when i 'hear' the morning in a corot or smell the salt air in a winslow homer. when i look back on this piece now 38 years later, i am reminded of that deep, sharp, penetrating new england winter chill along the coast.

the city

2010-02-10T06:09:00.000-08:00

"the city" acrylic, collage on canvasboard 46 x 61 cm. 1973 artist's collection

i think most kids go through a depression in high school. i clearly remember the night i painted this, walking down the street feeling suicidal. i remember the halo rings around the streetlights. i remember thinking, "what's the point?"

there's a big point. a beautiful and wonderful point.

seascape

2010-02-10T06:03:00.000-08:00

"seascape" watercolor on paper. 40.5 x 51 cm. 1973 artist's collection

this was one of my first attempts at watercolor. i copied the image from a postcard and gave the painting to my dad as a birthday gift. i was a senior in high school. i've kind of lost the touch of watercolors since.

ex

2010-02-02T03:44:00.000-08:00

"ex" screenprint, woodcut on rives BFK paper 65 x 50 cm. 2003 edition size: 6

battle of the bulge

2010-02-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

"battle of the bulge" oil, oil stick, cement, spray paint, toy soldiers, assorted material on canvas 183 x 132 cm. 2001 artist's collection

close up detail

daddy bush had soundly defeated the baddie of baghdad and america was on its war footing. its a mindset my country seems to relish: the war on poverty, the war on cancer, the war on drugs, the war on terror; doesn't seem to win any of them but that's another story. anyways, it was 'in the air'. i visited my mother during this time and was going through some junk i had stored and happened upon these plastic soldiers i played with as a kid. plastic nazi soldiers goose stepping! how twisted. i thought i could use them in a painting so i took them back with me to my studio in nyc. on the internet i found a company that makes highly detailed metal tanks about 2 cm. long, tigers, panzers, shermans, etc. so i combined all these elements to illustrate the battle of the bulge from a bird's eye view. the b.o.b. was the last german offensive in WW2, dec. 1944. in heavy snow the germans launched their surprise attack through the ardennes in a last ditch effort to repel the allied advance into germany. (they lost) in the painting i tried to imagine what it must have looked like from a low flying airplane. tanks leaving trails in the snow, the bold advance, the chaotic response. architectural model shrubs make up the foliage and globs of paint make up the fire.

maps

2010-01-27T15:25:00.001-08:00

"redoubtable" acrylic, collage, pencil, on paper. 101 x 70 cm. 1992 artist's collection

"redoubtable" screenprint on rives BFK paper. 76 x 57 cm. edition size: 25 with 4 proofs. 2003

here is an example of how a work on paper a decade later can inspire a print version

monet

2010-01-27T14:56:00.000-08:00

"monet" acrylic, cement, on paper. app. 27 x 20 cm. 1989 public collection

well known boston interior designer charles spada has been a friend for over 20 years. charlie was instrumental in the creation of the AIDS hospice in boston by bringing together designers, artists, and charitable organizations for a much needed hospice for the dying. he asked me to donate a piece, preferably a landscape. since i lived in the center of the city without a car it was a bit difficult to get out into nature and work so i flipped through books and found a monet i liked. i remember kneeling on my studio floor doing version after version, hoping the process would take me somewhere. it didn't. but i liked this one. when charlie told me the patients loved it, that was all that mattered.

spike

2010-01-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

"spike asleep on the NY times" acrylic, collage, cement on paper. 101 x 70 cm. 1987 artist's collection

spike (1980 - 2000) was my friend and companion for 20 years. he had a voracious appetite, hence, his nickname: maggot.
a good day for the maggot was to roll out of bed around noon, devour a can of catfood, snack on a bag of doritos washed down with a budweiser in the afternoon (he would not drink imports), nap, woof a plate of filet mignon for dinner, then hang out with me in my studio until the wee hours, snacking on chocolate chip cookies, milk, left-over spaghetti, and anything else he could get his paws on. to him, snow was kitty litter falling from the sky. he's still in my dreams.

submarine land

2010-01-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

"submarine land" acrylic, oil, oil stick on paper. 101 x 70 cm. 2000 private collection

i did this after another sub disaster, this time the russian nuclear cruise missile submarine kursk, which sunk with all hands in the barents sea. although horrifically tragic, it is that horror of unescapable claustrophobic life and death drama that is so compelling. submarine movies play on that very theme, 'das boot', 'u-571', 'hunt for red october' just to name a few. the words are from the vietnam-era song, 'one, two, three, what are we fighting for, don't ask me i don't give a damn'..............................

in the valley of dreams

2010-01-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

"valley of dreams" acrylic, collage, ink, fingerpaint on paper. 101 x 70 cm. 1997 artist's collection

bruce chang is a poet who lives in boston and a friend. his words inspired this piece.

kirchner

2010-01-27T07:35:00.000-08:00

ernst ludwig kirchner ( 1880 - 1938 ) is one of my favorite painters. he was a founding member of 'die brucke' (the bridge), a group of artists in germany who pioneered expressionism. branded a 'degenerate' artist by the nazis, over 600 of his paintings were sold off or destroyed by those idiots. probably as a direct result of such a massive insult, he committed suicide in 1938.
"5 women on the street" is one of his pivotal works painted in 1913. much has been written about his work and this piece in particular so i am not going to elaborate further along those lines. it inspired me to do my own version. i didn't change the composition much, i just wanted to have fun with it so i glued feathers and fake fur.

"5 women on the street". acrylic, collage, on canvas. 157 x 127 cm. 1986 private collection

below, 2 versions on paper from 1987 and 1992. both in private collections.

red light series

2010-01-27T06:58:00.001-08:00

"hollyweird and vine" acrylic, cement, oil stick, spray paint on canvas. 142 x 183 cm. 1984 whereabouts unknown

interesting story about this painting. in 1986 i was approached by LA interior designer hal maguire who had somehow heard about my work. hal was involved in decorating the interior of the "beverly hillbillies mansion" in bel air (shot for the TV show) as a backdrop for a fundraiser for AIDS research. he asked me if he could ship this painting out to the coast to be included in his decoration scheme. i agreed. elizabeth taylor was the chairwoman and the event was a big success. our agreement called for me to cover the cost of the paintings return and wouldn't you know it, that caught me at a bad time. so, as a stopgap measure, we agreed to hang the painting in liz taylor's attorney's office, one mr. marcus wasson III as a loan. hal writes me, "it is stunning, against a mirror wall, looking out over the lights of the entire city". it was in a good place and i did not pursue its return, however, mr wasson dies, his office is emptied out by his lover, mr. joseph steia, who i cannot track down, and the painting disappears. if anyone out there has seen this work, please let me know its whereabouts.

red light series

2010-01-27T06:46:00.000-08:00

"ouderkerksplein" pencil, oil stick, ink, on paper. 18 x 13.5 cm. 2003 private collection

"herbersrasse" acrylic, collage, oil stick on paper. 56 x 76 cm. 1983 artist's collection

"red lola" acrylic, cement, oil stick on paper. 76 x 56 cm. 1983 private collection

three works on paper from the red light series.

mask series

2010-01-27T01:44:00.000-08:00

masks number 2 and 22. acrylic, cement, oil, human teeth on plywood. 91 x 61 cm. 1985

sometimes ideas and fixations need to be exorcized in the creative act. i received an african mask as a birthday gift back then and its beauty and power triggered something within me. i began collecting more masks and i painted 25 'masks' on plywood as a series. my objective was to work quickly, hoping the final result was as powerful as the real thing. of course, they fall short in that regard, but response to them was positive as 16 are in private collections. i destroyed 3 and retained the rest.