Biography
Last year, The Virginian-Pilot proclaimed the art of Thomas McLauchlin “a tonic for those who yearn for the days when paintings were romantic and filled with good feelings’ a time when American painters raced to Paris to study the light-soaked images of the Impressionists.”
The review went on to praise his “textured brushwork,” which the reviewer likened to the frothiness of the breaking waves seen in many of McLauchlin’s paintings. She also called his technique and subject “a balm for the eye.”
In a style that owes more to Vincent Van Gogh than Renoir (although he admires and acknowledges a debt to both), McLauchlin creates the “romantiscapes”.
The artist behind and within these paintings was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. His art education began when he responded to the legendary matchbook cover challenge of the Famous Artist School: “Can You Draw Me?” Indeed, it seemed, young Thomas could.
After completing this postal rite of passage, he won a scholarship to the College of William and Mary, which he followed with studies at the prestigious Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He later earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University.
In the succeeding year, as a commercial artist, advertising art director and creative director, McLauchlin garnered innumerable professional awards and has seen his work showcased on posters, alum covers and books.
His canvasses have been on view in galleries from California to Martha’s Vineyard. He is Particularly proud of his solo and group exhibits in his native region, Hampton Roads and Virginia’s historic triangle of Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg.
McLauchlin and his wife, Brenda, currently reside in Chesapeake, Virginia. In his “spare time,” the artist has taught courses in art and aesthetics at St. Leo’s University and Regent University, both in his home state.