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How a Retired Engineer Found His Calling | Sit Down and Have a Tea Season 4, Episode 5
Manage episode 520410907 series 3687902
How a Retired Engineer Found His Calling Through Art
What happens when a global engineer trades oil rigs for oil paints? In this episode of Sit Down and Have a Tea from Wolfgang & Luke Art Gallery, host Syl Vander Park chats with painter Thomas Tucker, who began his art journey after retiring from a 38-year career with ExxonMobil. Tom shares how he went from never having picked up a brush to becoming a prolific artist with evolving styles, a deep love for trees, and a commitment to community. This conversation is full of heart, creativity, and insight into how the artistic spirit can emerge at any stage of life.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Tom spent 38 years working globally as an engineer before turning to art after retirement
• He discovered oil painting at a local art school in Great Falls, Virginia
• Studio tours helped him realize the value of connecting directly with people about art
• Many people are “latent creatives” waiting for the right moment to begin
• Plein air painting helped him embrace his identity as an artist
• Tom often works in evolving series, from autumn scenes to Japanese bamboo
• His process includes both acrylic and oil with layered depth and palette knife textures
• Feedback from his autistic son plays a key role in evaluating his work
• He is deeply involved in Legacy Farms and therapeutic horse programs
• His guiding life philosophy: “Do the right thing”
BEST MOMENTS:
00:01:34. “I stumbled upon this art school in Great Falls and started to take an oil painting class.”
00:02:21. “So many people are kind of what I call latent artists. Latent creative people.”
00:03:11. “You start looking, you go, wow, mine's not bad.”
00:04:15. “It’s nice to see the progression… this is what represented me right then and there.”
00:05:04. “If you look around my studio, you may have a hard time telling that the same artist produced all those paintings.”
00:06:26. “I paint anywhere down to 8x10. My bigger pieces are 44x60.”
00:08:28. “I’m not trying to replicate the photograph. I’m using that photograph for inspiration.”
00:14:50. “My son is 27 years old. He’s highly functioning autistic… he just tells me, dad, that one’s crashing.”
00:27:11. “Do the right thing, and you don’t have to ask yourself a lot about whether what you’re doing is right or wrong.”
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Pull up a chair, discover living artists, and enjoy the conversation.
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