Thomas Adkins, divides his time between his Southbury, Connecticut, and Bristol, Maine studios, is a graduate of Paier College of Art of New Haven along with graduate classes at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He has also worked as art director and creative director for some of Connecticut and New York’s most prestigious advertising agencies, simultaneous exhibiting in galleries and Museums throughout the United States. Currently he sits on the board of The Hudson Valley Art Association, Elected member of The Connecticut Plein Air Painters, Elected Member of The Lyme Art Association. Elected member of The Rockport Art Association. Numerous awards such as the First Place Lyme Art Association’s New England Landscape Invitational, People’s Choice Award – New Britain Museum Of American Art, Finalist Artist Magazine Landscape competition among many others. Numerous times exhibiting in the Mystic Museum International Marine Exhibition, The Butler Institute Of American Art, Mattatuck Museum and The New Britain Museum Of American Art, and also in the permanent collection of both the Mattatuck and New Britain Museums. Thomas has had dozens one-man and group shows. Prestigious galleries, such as The Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport, Bayview Gallery, Gregory James Gallery, Bryan Memorial Gallery, Powers Gallery and others throughout New England and Virginia, carry his work. Adkins has also won numerous awards for his paintings, designs, illustrations. His work has been purchased by GE, IBM, Kraft, Minolta, Hilton Hotels, Timex, Wendy’s and other major corporations. Thomas Adkins is a seasoned veteran of plein air painting. Most works begin with on location studies 24” x 24” or smaller. Adkins then composes larger works in his studio, compiling sketches, additional studies and from memory. His most recent works have been completed throughout New England. Focusing on areas in Connecticut, Vermont and along the Mid-coast of Maine. Artist Statement My paintings spring from a lifelong fascination with the outdoors. This fascination, present even in my earliest memories, has greatly influenced my personal, academic and professional pursuits, and most significantly, my artwork. The moods, mystery, and atmosphere along with inherent design of nature intrigue me, and I seek to unveil and express those qualities in my paintings, trying to document a specific place and time. What I am looking for is very elusive, that play of light and form along with design, a frozen moment in time. My goal is to share that special time and place. Hoping that the viewer will feel the same emotions that I do. It is self-evident that the single family farms and working harbors is threatened and rapidly vanishing. Still, there is a physical, emotional, and spiritual that remains evident. I choose to capture the inspiring of what still remains, rather than what has been lost. Contemporary Realism, my paintings are characterized by the thoughtful process of composition using natures and man made elements to evoke a true sense of place. They are subtle in color and strong in mood. My paintings are all oils on linen in sizes from 8 x 10 through 40 x 60. Small sizes being produced in Plein Air, and larger ones in the studio from location studies.Adkins’ concept of landscape painting is to preserve his emotional reaction to themoods, feelings and perceptions of nature and sharing them with others. “Every goodlandscape painting should have a sense of what the artist is feeling to a particular location.Every day and every hour there is a different affect nature has on our senses.”As a contemporary painter of the New England landscape, Adkins is inspired byfrequent visits to the neighboring farms, coast villages, and pastures of Connecticut,Maine and throughout New England. His style and technique have developed from earlyinfluences by impressionistic painters of light on nature, such as Winslow Homer, Pissarro and Willard Metcalf, and contemporary painter Peter Poskas. Adkins has the rare ability tocapture the subtle nuances that make up the ever-changing beauty of light on the NewEngland landscape in a realistic, contemporary way. Awards & Showings First Place Ship To Shore Exhibition, Lyme Art Association 2024Allied Artists of America 110th Annual Exhibition 2023-2024Award Of Merit, Rockport Art Associations National Show 2023Bayview Gallery, ME – 2007– 2024Gregory James Gallery, CT – 2007– 2024Powers Gallery Action, MA 2018 – 2024Bryan Memorial Gallery, VT 2017– 2024New Juried Members Show RAA&M, Rockport, MA. 2023 to presentRAA&M National 2022 RAA&M, Rockport, MA. 2023Adirondacks Plein Air Festival – First Place 2022Hudson Valley Plein Air Festival – Artists Choice Award 2022Berkley Gallery, Virginia – 2023 -presentHudson Valley Plein Air Festival – First Place 2021HVAA, Robert S. Duncanson Landscape Award 2022Mattatuck Museum Mixmaster Show 2020Mystic Maritime Museum Gallery & International Shows 2003 – 2020Scott Bundy Gallery, Kennebunkport, ME – 2014-2019Todd Bonita Gallery, Ogunquit, Maine 2017-2024New Britain Museum of American Art 2008, 2013, 2015, 2016 People Choice Award & 2nd Place 1st Place Lyme Art Association’s New England Landscape Invitational 2016People’s Choice Award – New Britain Museum Of American Art 2015Butler Institute Of American Art, OH – 2013Greene Art Gallery, CT – 2011 – 2016Hudson Valley Art Association Annual Juried Exhibition 2012 – 2019Salmagundi Club NYC 2009-2012Finalist Artist Magazine Landscape 2004, 2006Beaux Arts Gallery Group Shows 1993-2003 In the Collection of: New Britain Museum Of American Art Mattatuck Museum Hilton Hotels Private Collection Timex Corporation CL Adams Company Webster Bank Numerous Private collections throughout United States Private collection Great Britain Affiliations: On The Board of Hudson Valley Art Association Elected Member Rockport Art Association Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society, Elected Artist Lyme Art Association, Elected Artist Previously member of The Salmagundi Club, NYC.