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Tom HlasMixed Media Artist
Mixed Media Artist
As an abstract artist in Northwest, Connecticut, I have both a studio practice and a teaching practice. I work primarily in acrylics, mixed media, and collage. My paintings are grounded in a sense of belonging and the paths we travel throughout our lives. The concepts of home and relationships are very important to me and are often depicted with meandering, intersecting lines.
For the past 9 years, I have taught adult art classes in mixed media, painting, collage, and other techniques. Currently, I am a member of the teaching team at Art2Life, an educational art movement that enhances the art and life of people around the world.
I’m proud to say I participated as an educator in the now-discontinued GOLDEN Artist Educator Program from 2019 to 2025, a teaching program sponsored by GOLDEN Artist Colors.
Artist Statement
As a mixed media artist, I find inspiration in childhood memories: my mother and sisters sewing and working with fabric; the men and boys working together in the fields; the rural seasons of the year; my Czech heritage and growing up in a large, extended family. In many unforeseen ways, my move back to rural NW Connecticut from the cities of Philadelphia, Miami, and Washington, DC, has awakened these memories and emotions and they have now found their visual place.
My current body of work explores movement and stream of conscious self expression. Being an abstract artist, I am curious about how the mediums I use respond to the substrate and how I can allow the mediums to best express and push their properties.
I feel a kinship with the abstract expressionists and color field painters of yesteryear as well as the print makers and collage artists of today.