February 2, 2022 • 41 mins
Artist Tom Owen joins gallerist Jen Tough for a fun and casual conversation about his life and work. Tom is part of the roster of Jen Tough Gallery. Tom and Jen met five years ago when he responded to a call for entry for a show called Guilty Pleasures. Tom is an art collector and painter living in northern Kentucky, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati.
We nerd-out on spreadsheets and their power to connect artists and galleries, making the huge transition from a 9-5 job to being a full-time artist, life in the midwest, how a business background is beneficial to being an artist, art collecting, dogs and other good things.
You can check out Tom's work on the gallery website: https://jentough.gallery/collections/tom-owen
On Artsy:
https://www.artsy.net/artist/tom-owen-2/works-for-sale
On Tom's website:
https://www.tomowenfineart.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jen Tough (00:00):
Welcome to tough on art, the podcast for artists
interested in ways to get aheadin today's art market.
I'm Jen tough owner of Jen toughgallery and the artist Alliance
community.
Join me for some down to earth.
Talk about the best ways forartists to navigate this new and
different landscape.
And today I'm super excited tobe talking to my friend, an
(00:21):
artist, Tom Owen.
I first met Tom in 2017 when hecame to my very first gallery
location, which was in Vallejo,California on Georgia street.
It was a beautiful space.
Unfortunately, I had to leavebecause of all the movie
production going on.
Um, he was selected to be in agroup show.
I was doing called guiltypleasures, which was a fantastic
and fun show.
(00:41):
And I met a lot of really goodartists..
He was also a founding member ofan art fair collective, uh, that
I created where artists wouldjoin band together.
And we would have a booth and Iwould represent their work at
our fairs.
So he did a lot of art fairswith me over the years, Tom and
his husband live in a gorgeousVictorian in Northern Kentucky,
across the Ohio river fromCincinnati.
(01:04):
He's an avid art collector.
His home is filled with anincredible collection of
contemporary art, including astunning work by another one of
my.
Gina Tuzzi Tom's work hasevolved over the time that I've
known him moving from colorfulorganic shapes that float on the
canvas to more brightly coloredminimalistic, geometric shapes
(01:24):
and forms that fill the entirespace.
And substrate his work isinspired by landscape, primarily
highly abstracted and distilleddown to minimalist forms, his
subtle texture and layeringmirror, his own psychological
experiences of the subject.
Sometimes giving a glimpse intopast experiences of his
childhood, to politicalrealities of current day.
(01:47):
And we all know what those are.
Tom's media has evolved as well.
Moving from acrylic to flash ahighly pigmented water-based.
Which he applies using squeegeesand scraping large forms onto
his cradled wood panels withinthese forms are a subtle
interplay of color, inviting theviewer to look closer.
And the hand of the artist isvisible as opposed to many
(02:09):
minimalistic works where theartist's hand is not present at
all.
It's one of the things thatmakes his latest series so
interesting to me because itreally stands out and it's
boldness, simplicity and, andhow different it is from a lot
of minimalistic works.
You see a lot of minimalisticworks are so cold and Tom's, you
(02:29):
know, Tom's work has this verysubtle interplay of color and
really sort of draws you in.
You can see Tom's work on mywebsite, Jen Tough gallery, and
you can also check out.
Uh, work on artsy through thegallery, and you can also look
at his stuff on his Instagramfeed and his website and links
of course, will be available inthe show notes.
(02:50):
So thanks so much for joining meand I look forward to this
conversation and I'll see youguys next week.
So, hi Tom Owen, how are youdoing
Tom Owen (03:02):
Jen?
I'm doing great.
Thanks for this opportunity.
I'm looking forward to speakingwith you.
Jen Tough (03:06):
Yeah.
So we met a few years ago.
You were in one of my groupshows, as I recall.
Do you
Tom Owen (03:15):
remember the name of it?
I do guilty pleasures,
Jen Tough (03:18):
right.
And yeah, so that's how we met.
And that was what probably 2017.
Yes.
And the dark Trump days is Irecall, I think we were all sort
of like shell shocked.
Right.
But I got to meet you and yourhusband.
And you guys so nice.
(03:39):
And you actually purchased apiece, you purchased the Gina,
piece.
Was that, that time or was thatanother
Tom Owen (03:44):
time?
Absolutely.
At that time, because Gina hadthe solo going on in that
smaller backroom.
And so we were so taken by herwork, but we, we did purchase
one of,
Jen Tough (03:56):
yeah, that's Gina Tuzzi you guys.
She's one of my other artists,so, so that's how Tom and I met
now, Tom, you are in, are you inCovington, Kentucky
Tom Owen (04:05):
or.
Jen Tough (04:07):
Okay.
You have to get that correct,but that's still super close to
Cincinnati.
Tom Owen (04:11):
It is.
It is right across the Ohioriver.
In fact, from my house, I cansee downtown Cincinnati.
I can see the skyline and I cansee some of the neighborhoods up
on the Hills.
Right.
Jen Tough (04:22):
So I have to ask you this.
I actually just asked my husbandthis, this morning on our walk.
Do you know, what's round onboth sides and hide than.
'cause, you know, I'm an Ohiogirl, right?
So I have to ask everybody whohas some connection to Ohio.
And so my husband who was bornand raised in Napa, he had such
a hard life.
You know, he's like the onlyreason I know this is because
I'm married to you.
(04:42):
So anyway, I had to give you thelittle test
Tom Owen (04:48):
I was born and raised in.
Jen Tough (04:50):
Um,
Tom Owen (04:53):
I grew up in Fairfield, which is about 20
miles, 25 miles Northwest ofdowntown Cincinnati.
Jen Tough (05:01):
Okay.
So it's still kind of, it'sstill kind of south.
Is that kind of close to Athens?
Tom Owen (05:07):
No other way.
Athens is east.
Fairfield is west.
I mean, it really.
From my home where I grew up, itwas literally 20 minutes into
downtown Cincinnati.
Jen Tough (05:18):
Okay.
Yeah.
So you basically grew up inCincinnati, which is cool.
It's a cool town.
Tom Owen (05:23):
It's so princess, it is, it's very European.
It feels very European.
When you're here, we have agreat symphony and art museum
and lots of, lots ofopportunities here.
So it's a great, it's a good.
Yeah.
Jen Tough (05:37):
A lot of people, you know, put Kentucky and Ohio, you
know, like sort of like, sort ofdismiss them, but there's a lot
of stuff going on, you know,Cleveland to like, everyone's
heard of, you know, but theyhave such, you know, just like
Cincinnati, they have such anamazing art scene because
there's a lot of old moneythere.
So like people used to put moneyin symphonies and ballets and
(05:58):
art museums and thatconservatory, oh my God,
Cincinnati.
Beautiful.
Tom Owen (06:04):
It is, it is.
And you know, and the, and the,the contemporary arts center is
an amazing institution that weare so lucky to have in
Cincinnati.
So,
Jen Tough (06:15):
yeah.
So tell me about, you justretired from your corporate gig.
Right?
Tell me about that.
So you were sort of likeslogging away in the studio, all
sort of in your spare time.
Tell me about like the last 10years of your life.
Tom Owen (06:33):
Wow.
The last 10 years of my life.
So I, I will say, you know, Idid paint.
I had been paid all my life andyou know, I, for me, it was a
great.
Way for me to balance my worldquite honestly, because working
in corporate America, I was, Iworked for an insurance company
for 21 years.
(06:53):
I led their learning anddevelopment function for the
entire enterprise.
And we have offices had office,not me anymore, but the company
has offices in Western, in everystate of the union and Canada
and in Mexico.
I was responsible for my teamwas training all of the folks in
all of those different offices,well, over 8,000 employees.
(07:14):
And so, you know, I would painton the weekends.
I would paint in the eveningsbecause it really truly is my
passion.
And it's what I've always donefrom the time I was a small kid.
And, you know, I say in mylittle bio that I, I, you know,
took over a part of the garagewhen I was in high school.
Literally.
It's true.
Put my father out and created astudio in our garage so that I
(07:35):
could paint during high school.
And I've always been a painter.
And it's something that I've, Ilooked forward to doing.
Once I retired from thecorporate world, you know, and
the corporate world gave me anopportunity, relate to, to
survive and to live and to, andto have money, to experiment
with my art and to grow as anartist.
(07:56):
So.
You know, I don't regret any ofthat.
It was, it was tough sometimesbecause I would, I'd be painting
until 10 o'clock every night or11 o'clock in the evening.
And then all day on Saturday,all day on Sunday, uh,
especially in the last five to10 years, because that's really
where my heart and passion were.
Jen Tough (08:12):
Yeah.
Did you find it hard to go from,you know, working during the day
and then coming home andpainting, like making that sort
of psychological switch?
Did you just get used to it?
Like how did you.
Tom Owen (08:26):
That's a great question.
You know, there's, there's awonderful quote from Nicholas
Wilton who said that frequencyis more important than duration.
And when I didn't feel likegoing to the studio, I would
remember that quote because evenif I spent a half hour.
Or just an hour in the evening,then at least I was doing
(08:46):
something in, in my art.
And, but it took me a while toget there because I felt like,
oh gosh, I only have thislimited time.
And I put all kinds of pressureon myself to like, sort of
separate those two worlds intolike, be totally focused on our
while I was here in my studio.
And then.
But over time.
I think for me, you know, I wasable to, to, you know, gosh, if
(09:10):
I needed to respond to acommission request, I could do
that on my lunch hour while Iwas at work.
It was not a big deal.
And I was fortunate enough tohave a flexible boss who and
core values at the company aboutwork-life balance.
So that if I needed to take aday or an afternoon to go visit
a gallery or to do a studiovisit, I had that flexibility.
And so it was a really.
(09:31):
To me, especially in the last 10years I'm working in that
company.
So, you know, it in terms oflike, could I switch it on and
off?
No.
Cause I was always thinkingabout my work and my art rather
than not my work at the company.
Yeah.
It was hard sometimes eveningssometimes I just wouldn't feel
like it.
And you know, and so I didn'tbeat myself up.
I chose not to do art that nightor knowing that, Hey, I've got
(09:54):
all day Saturday that I can workon extra.
So, um, I was so excited toretire though and move and move
my studio out of my house.
I took, I, we live in an oldVictorian home, as you know, and
I have the third floor here asmy studio.
And so to move out of that andto have a much bigger space into
(10:14):
a studio space that has a sinkand all those other kinds of
amenities.
People just sort of take forgranted has been a real, I
think, a real boon to my artmaking and the quality of the
work that I'm doing today versuswhat I was doing even just a
year ago.
Yeah.
Jen Tough (10:30):
Yes.
Because your work really hasevolved really rapidly.
It has.
Tom Owen (10:35):
And I'm having a great time.
Jen Tough (10:37):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, I mean, now explain toeveryone what your, what your
process is right now.
I'm sure they're probablylooking at some pictures of some
of your work, but talk about,you know, cause you've switched,
you, you know, kind of paintyour process.
Everything is different fromwhat you were doing before.
Tom Owen (10:55):
Yeah.
You know, it's funny.
I, I was, somebody asked meabout this the other day and I
was like, I can't remember, likewhen, like what turned me on to
using flash, which is a high,the most highly pigmented paint
you can buy and it's dead flatand I love using it.
It dries its water base it driesquickly and you can mix it.
You can thin it, you know?
(11:16):
There's all kinds of differentways to use this paint.
It was originally developed inthe 1950s for sign painters and
then it's permanent and allthose kinds of wonderful
features.
But I love how flat it is.
Number one, and the fact that Ican manipulate it with a variety
of tools.
So I very seldom use brushesanymore.
(11:37):
Do a lot of brushwork, but now Iuse, I'm looking around here
cause I use, um, can usesqueegees.
I use scrapers, I use an edge ofa ruler I use in like, I have
this large sheet, that's largesheet of plexiglass that I'll
use to pull the paint.
The the panel, you know, and Iused flash on both canvas and
(11:58):
Jessa panels and you get twovery different looks and
experiences.
So if you think about thepainting first draft, the orange
and white one, Jen it's, it'sdone on canvas.
And then if you look at some ofthe others, you know, it's, it's
really done on.
These cradled panels, which Ibuy from ampersand, they're
super smooth, they'rebeautifully finished.
(12:21):
So it allows me to pull thepaint and get lots of variation
and layers and textures andvisual effects that I really
enjoy.
And I don't control a lot of it,you know, and I love, I love
responding to what's happeningas I'm painting versus sort of
plotting it all out.
Okay.
That's now orange and not blueand, or, you know, or that, that
(12:42):
ran over here.
And that's good.
So, so it's, it's great.
And you can just lay her on itand I don't, does that answer
the question?
Jen Tough (12:49):
Yeah, totally.
And I, you know, I love how youdid this switch because I mean,
I'm always, as you know, I'malways harping on artists that,
you know, I want them to dosomething different and because
there's so many abstractexpressionists,
nonrepresentational painters,you know, who use a brush and
they, you know, and they mightcombine media.
But you've really, you know, andyou were kind of separate, you
(13:10):
know, you were kind ofexperimenting with that and
using that in the beginning whenwe first met, and then you made
this pretty radical departure toa much more minimal, you know,
minimalist sort of approachusing the flash with the, you
know, in the squeegee.
And I love it.
I love, I love all of it.
I mean, especially because it'sdifferent and it shows your
growth as an artist.
Yeah, I think you kind of wore,you kind of were tight, like war
(13:33):
out of what you were doingbefore.
Like you were ready to like,sort of take that next step.
I love that.
Tom Owen (13:39):
Absolutely.
Right.
And I, you know, and I, again, Ithink I was reading an article
somewhere that talked aboutflash and I thought, I don't
even know what this is.
I gotta find out about this.
And there are a couple ofmanufacturers of it here in the
states.
I use actually Frank andbourgeois from Paris.
I know it has a very fancy, butthere are some distributors have
(14:00):
it here in the states, but itis, I think the highest quality.
Flash that you combined.
It is.
So it feels, this is going tosound weird, but it's very
similar to guash, but, but itfeels almost velvety when it's
dry.
There's a real it's it's so it'sso soft and I love that about
(14:21):
it.
People are like, can I touch it?
I'm like, sure, go ahead.
It's fine.
They're like, Ooh, it's sointeresting.
So yeah,
Jen Tough (14:28):
it's the same sort of visual qualities of in caustic
in a way.
Yeah,
Tom Owen (14:34):
it does.
You know, I used to work inencaustic many years ago and I,
and I love it.
And it's different in that.
I mean, within Costa gab, itends up being flat.
I always would Polish myencaustics up, so they have a
sheen to them and then theywould eventually cloud over
again.
But, um, it's, it's much thinnerand it's not as, I don't know,
it's really, really supersmooth.
(14:57):
So with encaustic, you alwayshad some feeling of texture.
I think this is.
Jen Tough (15:02):
Yeah.
So I can totally see thatfitting into your aesthetic
style for sure.
When I started seeing all thisnew work, I was so excited and I
was like, it was sort of likewhen I started seeing it, I was,
you know, the first time I waslike, oh, he's found his niche.
He's found his he's found hisway.
Like, yeah.
I, and you know, when I, you hadsent me pictures of when you
(15:23):
installed Gina twosies painting,cause you know, the painting you
bought is one of my favoriteones that she ever did.
And I saw your house and I waslike, oh my God.
I mean, okay, you guys, so Tomhas one of the most awesome.
Art collections ever like justyou guys have such a just
(15:44):
amazing house.
There's no, it's so creative andcolorful and it's not stuffy.
And next time I'm in theMidwest.
I'm going to be stopping by.
We're going to have a cocktail.
Tom Owen (15:56):
You are always welcome here.
I'll tell ya.
But, you know, I think it'simportant to live with art.
I mean, I, we collect the art ofthe artists that we love and I
love being surrounded by thatwork.
It inspires me every day.
Jen Tough (16:09):
Yeah.
And the colors, I mean,everything's everything that you
guys have is so.
Brightly colored.
And, but not like, you know,yucky past destiny kind of
thing.
Right.
It's garish.
Yeah.
It's strong and it's oh, I justlove it.
And so Tom's house is why, whenwas it built?
Like
Tom Owen (16:27):
1894.
Jen Tough (16:31):
Love.
Absolutely love.
So in New Mexico, there's likenone of those kinds of places
here.
Right?
Like it would probably be like,they'd last, you know, like
what, like a few years, youknow, you just, everything is
just so destroyed here by this.
Sun's interesting.
But yeah, it's definitely onething I miss about the Midwest
is all the Victoria.
Tom Owen (16:55):
And we live in a great little neighborhood.
It's very walkable and we walkedto lots of restaurants and bars.
And when we can do that, so his
Jen Tough (17:04):
Kentucky, like the along the river, like along the
Ohio river, is that mostly wherelike in the bigger towns, is
that where it's like moreliberal.
Because it's hard to Kentuckywithout thinking of, you know,
who that's true.
Tom Owen (17:19):
That's a great question.
So, you know, right across theOhio river, there are, you know,
really sort of there's KentuckyNewport.
Bellevue are some of the smalllittle river towns.
And in fact, a lot of rivercaptains lived here before the
turn of the century.
I'll be turning before the turnof the 20th century.
And that's where.
(17:40):
Large Victorian homes sort of,or initially built, but it's
this sort of strip right alongthe river, that is truly a much
more progressive.
And whenever there's an electionand you look at the returns,
it's always this particularcounty public counties right
here, along the river thatalways come in blue.
And then there's one or two sortof in central Kentucky near the
Capitol or near university ofKentucky and Louisville that
(18:03):
come in blue.
Everything else is not blue.
Jen Tough (18:07):
I know, I know people on the west coast, they think
like, oh my God, Kentucky, like,you know, they get a little,
like, you know, they get thatsort of look, you know, like
this and they don't understand.
I mean, when I first moved toLos Angeles in 93 or 92, um, you
know, people, they knew I wasfrom Ohio.
So they said, oh, did you growup in a farm?
(18:27):
It's like that actually, my dadwas a physicist, not a farm, so
yeah, there's a lot ofmisunderstanding, but I think,
you know, the internetdefinitely has helped with, with
that like sort of peopleunderstand a little bit more.
About that.
So let's talk more about likeyour, did you go to school for
art or any kind of creativething or were you more in
(18:50):
business or what was,
Tom Owen (18:52):
that's a great question.
So, you know, I did win twoscholarships out of high school
to one to the art academy andone to a smaller commercial arts
school.
And I, I opted not to pursueeither of those because you
know, when you're 18, you know,truly what's best for you.
Right.
And so I, I made some otherdecisions and I, I did not go to
(19:14):
school for art.
So I'm, you know, I'm mostlyself-taught I take them
workshops and seminars andthings like that along the way.
But, you know, I studied.
Theology and English literature.
So, so my undergrad is inEnglish literature and with a
minor in philosophy andtheology.
And then I taught high schoolfor a number of years before I
(19:35):
got into business.
And so I was actually a religionteacher in two different
Catholic high schools on theOhio in Ohio.
And yeah.
And so, and then, you know, Idid that for, gosh, I'm going to
say 12 years, 13 years maybe.
And you know, one of the thingsI always used to tell my
(19:57):
students is you need to try newthings.
You need to reach, you need togrow, you need to learn.
I taught mostly seniors.
And so it was easy.
To sort of share that messagewith high school seniors, right.
And to take risks and, uh, butto be safe and all those kinds
of things.
And I knew I had been throughthe one high school for almost
10 years and I thought, youknow, I was department chair.
(20:18):
I was super involved in lots ofdifferent things.
I knew every parent there was, Ithought, boy, do I want to do
this one?
I'm 55.
And when I'm 65, No, I don't.
And so, so I sort of took a stepback and said, okay, what skills
do I have that are transferable?
So I really started looking outin business to see, Hey, can I
(20:40):
transition some of my, myteaching skills into a more
lucrative way of life?
And so ultimately I startedworking for a pharmaceutical
research company, a Canadiancompany, as a trainer in their
Cincinnati clinical research.
And so I got a couple ofpromotions and we're with them
(21:00):
for five years before I thenjoined the world of insurance.
Jen Tough (21:06):
Wow.
Art academy of Cincinnati, thisdiscussion.
So we could have been like maybein the same founded.
I know I went there for like aminute.
I think I was smoking too much.
And then I, then I went toColorado to be a ski bum.
So this, okay, so this was 85.
Tom Owen (21:28):
So I'm, I'm a little older than you.
So this would have been at, thiswould have been in 78.
Okay.
Jen Tough (21:34):
So not that far off,
Tom Owen (21:36):
not that far off, right?
Yeah.
But
Jen Tough (21:39):
you, you, you know, you did the right thing because
there was no money.
Like, you know, now, right?
Like you, unless you have atrustful
Tom Owen (21:48):
that's right.
Well, you know, I, I read anarticle.
This has been probably maybe acouple of years ago now that
talked about the economics ofart and going to art school and
that sort of thing.
And.
And I'm going to get thispercentage wrong, but how to
every art school sort ofgraduate, they were saying that,
(22:08):
you know, it's less than 3% thatactually can make a living and
make a living doing the kind ofart that they want to do and
love to do.
And everybody else ends up doingsomething else.
And I thought, okay, so maybe Ididn't make the right choice,
you know, because I've been ableto.
To practice my art and dopainting and create while I've
(22:29):
had these other jobs.
You know, it's not hasn't, likeI said before, it hasn't always
been easy, but it's been, it'sbeen a good experience.
I've never regretted.
Jen Tough (22:39):
You have so much experience like business
experience, which a lot ofartists don't, you know, if they
haven't taken that path and halfof art is business, it really is
right.
Like marketing communication,promoting yourself, you know, I
mean, you've got the writingskills, you've got the business
skills.
I mean, that's huge.
Tom Owen (23:00):
I do, you know, I do feel like that that's been a
real, um, bonus for me to havehad that experience.
You know, I it's like I have,when I get a request for a
commission, you know, I know howto talk to those folks.
I know how to, you know, go intotheir home and look at it and,
and have a conversation aboutwhat do they want to achieve and
(23:21):
why are they going?
You know, all of those thingsthat I had to do as a business
person, you know, so it's, it'sworked out really well.
And the,
Jen Tough (23:29):
I think the business side, your business side has
really allowed you to explorenew things like, you know,
joining the collectives, likeyou were part of my collective,
you know, just exploring, justreally putting yourself out
there instead of just sort ofsitting back and waiting to be
discovered, which is, you know,something that art school
(23:50):
perpetuate.
Oh, you just have to makeamazing art and that's all you
have to do.
And somebody will find you justgoing to find you magically and
then like everything's solvedall your problems or, you know,
it's, it's, you know, you werevery proactive and very, very
business-oriented with your,with your career.
And I think that's extremelypositive, you know?
Tom Owen (24:13):
Well, I, you know, Jen answered that's it wasn't easy
because you know, like anyartists.
You know, you put your heart andsoul and to the work that you
create and then to put it outthere and have somebody judge it
and say, oh no, that's not rightfor my gallery, or that's not
right for the show or whatever,but I think where business
helped me.
Okay.
(24:34):
That's one person's opinion.
There are other opinions out.
And, you know, there, there willbe somebody that likes and
appreciates what I'm doing and Ijust need to find the right
person or the right group ofpeople.
And Hey, thank you for yourtime.
And I move on.
I never want to burn a bridgeand something I learned in
business.
You know, the other thing Ithink that's helped me is to
(24:55):
understand that most galleries,business people, and that, you
know what, they don't have a lotof time to waste.
They're looking to make moneyfor.
Themselves, but also for, youknow, providing art for their
clients.
And that has always helped mewhen I approach a gallery or
when I'm interacting withsomebody like you or another
(25:17):
gallery owner.
And because I know, I knowyou're running a business and I
get that that's okay.
This is not, I know.
Sorry.
Y'all.
It's like, you know, I, I trynot to be high maintenance
(25:39):
because I know there are highmaintenance artists sometimes
not at all.
So I try to have things on timeand the way somebody wants them.
But yeah,
Jen Tough (25:51):
no, you're great.
Okay.
So speaking of Greg, tell meabout your.
Tom Owen (25:57):
So they're actually not up here right now because we
live next door to a little parkand there were children playing
in the park and Fanny, who is aDandie Dinmont terrier decided
she had to come.
Nonstop on it's playing on thepark.
I'm sucking not while we'redoing this podcast.
So she is four years old.
And if you don't know what adandy Dan Monterio looks like,
(26:20):
do a quick search because theyare the funniest looking dog.
In the world and we love thefaster she has personality plus.
And, but she's, she's very longbody, but a big poofy head.
So I wish she were here now andI pick her up so you can see
her.
And then, and then we have Mavisand Mavis is a gosh she's button
(26:42):
out 12 or 13 Norridge terror.
So if you, if you ever saw themovie best in show, and you
think about the little dog Winkythat wins, that wins the dog
show, that's a Norwich terrierand Mavis had.
Personality plus, and anattitude to go with it.
She's very much her own woman.
(27:03):
And we'll tell you when shewants something, how she wants
something.
And then if you don't meet herexpectations, she let you know
that too.
So they're both sweet dogs andwe're very lucky to have them.
They get along.
Fanny tolerance, Mavis Mavis.
I should say tolerance fanning.
Cause Fannie just wants to play
Jen Tough (27:23):
she's younger.
So she's all about that.
But two of the greatest dognames ever Fannie and
Tom Owen (27:29):
Mavis Mavis, and before we had Fannie, we had
blanche.
Blanche was a less Highlandwhite terrier.
We rescued from, she was a, shewas used as a breeder in a puppy
mill.
And so we saved her from.
Horrible life.
(27:49):
And so she was a great dog.
She was probably the best thatwe've ever had.
Sweet as can be.
So,
Jen Tough (27:53):
so tell me about your goals for art.
What do you, what do you, I knowthat's kind of a big question.
Just tell me about like, whereyou kind of want to go and what.
You know, is it multiplegalleries across the country?
Are you trying to get moregalleries?
Are you trying to like, what,just, just talk about that a
little bit.
Tom Owen (28:11):
Like what you use that yeah.
You know, that's a, that's areally good question.
And as a business person, Iwould have annual goals and
objectives and set this for myteam.
I know.
And it's funny because I we'regetting ready to go on vacation.
And I, and I said to me, all myhusband and I said, you know, I
want to take some time while I'mlying on the beach.
(28:33):
And shut down what I want toachieve in 2021 in my art
practice, I'm all about goals.
So I ha you know, I don't, Idon't have them completely
formulated because what I findis I need space to do that, to
really sort of think aboutwhere, where do I want to head?
You know, I've got, I I'd loveto have more, more work in
(28:54):
galleries.
I'd love to sell more.
It's funny.
I enjoy commissions.
I know some artists reallydon't.
They struggle with that a littlebit.
And I get that.
I'm not afraid to walk away froma commission.
I've done it a handful of times.
You know, I sort of have aprocess that I use with clients.
And if we can't come to anagreement, then I I'd say, you
(29:15):
know what?
I am not the artist for you.
Here's a list of other peoplethat you might want to connect
with, but I can't produce whatyou're asking me to produce
because I don't do reproductionsand I'm not.
Not be true to myself and myvision.
So, and th those two thingsdon't meet.
And I I'm, it's funny, thosepeople that I've said, Hey,
(29:36):
okay, you know what?
Let's part ways they stillfollow me on Instagram.
They still, you know, send meChristmas cards, all of those
kinds of things, because we leftthat relationship in a good way,
Jen Tough (29:48):
because I probably would have gone south rapidly.
Tom Owen (29:51):
Yeah, right.
So anyway, in terms of goals, I,you know, I would like to, I'd
like to be in a few moregalleries.
I want to be really selectiveabout that.
You know, I have, you know,where I find that my work is
really well or on the coast,west coast and east coast.
I think, you know, probably I'vehad some success in Florida and
in California, you know, I'dlike to sort of break into the
(30:13):
Charleston region a little bit.
I think there's some opportunityfor me there.
Yeah.
Like I said, my plan is to take,you know, sometime over the next
several weeks.
Flush out those goals.
And here's the thing aboutgoal-setting chat as I never do
more than three big ones,because the reality is if you do
more than three, you're nevergoing to get them achieved
(30:34):
because you're too pulled inlots of different directions.
If all I want to do this andwhat it is, I want to do this
workshop and know, teach thisand.
Then you're not spending yourtime on your practice.
And so, um, I try to limit it tothree to four sort of big goals
for me.
What do I want to, you know,whether it's, Hey, you know
(30:55):
what, I want to expand mystudio.
That could be a goal.
You know, I want to break intothis particular market.
So how am I going to targetdifferent galleries?
That sort of thing, you know,I'm, I'm not, I know, I keep
thinking, I got to find a bettersystem.
I know, I know it's, I mean, Ihave, I use my computer a lot
(31:18):
and I have lots of files, but,you know, Excel was never or
access.
I never had to use those tools.
And so I don't think I'm veryskilled at it and I ended up
getting frustrated.
And so I just go back tocreating the table and word.
I mean, I have all my owncreative spreadsheets and things
like that, but it's oh,absolutely.
(31:41):
Yeah, I was going
Jen Tough (31:41):
to say, Hey, wait a minute.
You're like the businessorganized person.
I can
Tom Owen (31:47):
remember all
Jen Tough (31:48):
this stuff.
A lot of artists.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, I think, especially whenyou're talking about goals, you
know, they they're like, ohyeah, well, I'd kind of like
this.
And it's like, well then how doyou, what steps are you going to
take to get that?
What's your process?
And I think that it's, it'sreally easy to, you know, to
sort of overlook that.
And I think, you know, I knowwith Excel for me, I was like,
there's no effing way.
(32:09):
I'm going to learn Excel becausethen someone's going to ask me
to do.
And, you know, and I, there wasno way.
So I think there's a realaversion to that, but you know,
those tools are helpful when itcomes to like approaching
galleries
Tom Owen (32:22):
and absolutely.
And I will tell you, okay, I'mgoing to get all businessy now.
So.
I used to teach a program toexecutives called the four
disciplines of execution.
And it's actually some work doneby cubby to do some of this
work.
And Larry Bossidy did some ofthis work.
And how do you execute?
(32:45):
You know, these wildly importantgoals.
And, and I still use those,those tools and those processes
in my, in my practice today.
And so, you know, it's abouthaving a scorecard it's about,
and once you get it sort of, youknow, it's about, okay, but set
along the three most importantgoals and what steps you're
going to take, and what's yourvision to get there.
(33:07):
And so on.
How are you writing that downand how are you keeping score
and those kinds of things.
And.
And it feels like it feels likesome work at the beginning, but
then once you get it, oh my God.
Then
Jen Tough (33:20):
you can't live without
Tom Owen (33:21):
it.
You can't live without it.
So I'm a huge, I'm a huge fan ofthe four disciplines of
execution.
Yeah.
Jen Tough (33:31):
Well, I think your business sense has really,
really helped in, you know, itreally advancing your career
really rapidly because.
You know, I mean, just three orfour years ago, I don't think,
you know, you were with agallery and now you've got like
three, right?
Tom Owen (33:47):
Yeah.
So I, you know, well, you know,I, so ABC fine art in Cincinnati
has been showing my work forgosh since, well, probably for
the last eight to 10 years.
Very, I mean, not a lot.
And, and, you know, I've beenvery fortunate to have been with
(34:08):
them and then there've been somesmaller galleries along the way
that have had, you know, I'vebeen with them for a year or a
couple of years, and then, youknow, owners change and they
change their focus and thingslike that.
And, you know, and then there'sa COVID thing.
Right.
So, yeah.
So I'm with, well, Jen Tuftgallery and there is, you know,
(34:29):
art design consultants on withpallet home and paint and
Richmond, Virginia.
And there was the Greenwichhouse gallery here in
Cincinnati, but they've sinceclosed.
So yeah, but you know, so yeah,I've, you know, I've had a
really, I've been reallyfortunate to have that kind of
gallery experience and workingwith gallery owners galleries,
(34:50):
and also.
You know, meeting and workingwith other artists who show in
those galleries.
I think one of the mostimportant things, if somebody is
trying to get into a gallery is,you know, go where your work is
similar because that's what the,that's what the gallery wants to
show at that it has to beidentical, but like, if you're a
realistic landscape, Don't don'ttry to get into a gallery.
(35:13):
That's focused solely onabstraction.
I mean, it doesn't work.
And
Jen Tough (35:17):
then just try to get to know the owner and just try
to, you know, just, you have to,it's all about connecting
Tom Owen (35:25):
with people.
Well, you know, Jen, you talkabout what I learned in
business.
It comes down to relationshipsand I really think that that's
true.
Jen Tough (35:35):
So.
It totally because, you know, Imean, I love your work, but if I
didn't, if I hadn't known youbefore, I don't think I
would've, you know, I mean, youhave to have that relationship
to know like, Hey, is this goingto work?
Do I want to work with thisperson?
Do I want to?
Yeah.
And that's where the databasecomes in handy because then, you
know, 50 galleries may be on thelist that you're hitting up,
(35:58):
keep track of, you know, if theydidn't respond, if you're going
to put, you know, take them offthe list, whatever, like, you
know, I don't know any other wayto do it, but,
Tom Owen (36:08):
well, you know, it's funny.
I it's funny you say thatbecause I just suppose it
yesterday, today sent out myholiday.
Happy holidays, MailChimp, butso.
The I sent out this holidaygreeting and I include not only
people who've purchased work,but who have shown an interest
in my work, even if they'venever purchased anything.
(36:29):
People who asked, you know, I'vedone commissions for as well as
a number of galleries with whomI've had contact over the years.
And, you know, just today I hadtwo of them.
So went out this morning.
I had two of them respondsaying, oh my gosh, it's great
to hear from you.
I love this piece.
And your email, hope you do themwell, you know what?
I'm going to go back and take alook at your website again.
(36:51):
Oh, that's awesome.
So, you know, and that points tothe importance of having an
updated website too.
Right.
So yeah, which I could do betterat
Jen Tough (37:00):
no, I think your website's really good.
I think, I think you are.
You're just, you know, you're,you're knocking it out of the
park.
So tell me where you're findingyour creativity these days.
Whereas where are you drawinginspiration from?
Tom Owen (37:17):
Yeah, that's, you know, that's a hard question,
but I will tell you I'm superwell, so I'm inspired by.
I was an English major, so, andI still read and I still read
poetry and I still loveliterature.
So I read, I read poetry.
I'm inspired by that.
(37:38):
You know, I'm inspired by sortof my, the landscapes around me.
And so I really, I tried try tolook at straggly.
My world.
And that's where, that's where alot of my work comes from today.
When I think about some of thepieces that are, you know, that
I'm doing today, it's reallyinspired by sort of some of the
(38:00):
lines and the shapes that I seearound me that I, I I'd love to
travel.
And that always, gosh, fills meup with lots of.
How have ideas.
I come back with hundreds ofphotographs on my iPhone, and
oftentimes it might be justcolor combinations or, you know,
here's an odd shape where thesetwo colors came together.
And, you know, I couldn't tellyou if it was a sign of a house
(38:22):
in a doorway or whatever thecase may be, because I'm really
inspired by, by the.
Especially using flash becauseyou can do all kinds of crazy
wild things with color withflash.
So does that answer thequestion?
That's it's literature, it's theworld around me?
I don't know.
I know some people are inspiredby music that doesn't always get
me going, but
Jen Tough (38:41):
where are you guys going next?
Cause you were just on Regis inMexico
Tom Owen (38:44):
city.
We were in Mexico city and itwas wonderful.
It was just a wonderfulexperience.
And so we are this week, we areheaded to Anguilla and we just
got all of our.
Yeah, again, another COVIDtests, which were all negative,
which is great.
And then it's crazy.
Cause you had to fly into St.
Martin and then you have to takea boat from St.
(39:05):
Martin over to Anguilla.
And so we have to be, you haveto be tested when we land and
St.
Martin and then again, andAnguilla.
So lots of, lots of COVID teststo come in the next few days.
But so in this vacation isreally what we kind of call our,
do nothing vacation because we,we we'll go and we'll read and
we'll relax.
We'll work on my goals.
We'll have some nice dinner.
(39:26):
Um, and that's sort of justrecharge and Anguilla is there.
It's not very tourist state.
There are, there are no chainsthere, most people rent, condos
or homes.
And so anyway, so that's comingup and then in the spring we are
right now, fingers crossed.
We are headed to Paris for fourdays.
And then from Paris to Moroccofor 10 days, and then back to
(39:52):
Paris for three days after that,
Jen Tough (39:55):
the stuff you're going to, the pictures are going
to take in Morocco.
I can't even
Tom Owen (39:58):
imagine.
I'm so excited.
I know, I know
Jen Tough (40:02):
that's on my bucket list.
I've been to.
I've never been to Morocco.
That's definitely on my bucketlist.
Tom Owen (40:10):
So we're hoping, we're hoping we also have, we also
have, uh, a trip that we plannedfor grease in there, but the
next year, but we'll see.
Cause Neil retires and April ofthis year.
Yeah.
This coming year.
So going
Jen Tough (40:26):
to be like never at home,
Tom Owen (40:28):
right.
I'll be in the studio or we'llbe traveling one of those two.
Jen Tough (40:32):
It sounds so wonderful.
I'm so happy that everything'slike really working out for you
and, you know, it's just so goodto see, you know, Well, thank
Tom Owen (40:42):
you for
Jen Tough (40:44):
your work's beautiful.
And like, if you guys don't knowTom's work, you can go to my
website or you can go to Tom'swebs.
What is your website?
Tom Owen (40:51):
My website is Tom Owen.
Fine.
art.com.
Jen Tough (40:55):
Okay.
Tom Owen, fine art.
And then what are you onInstagram?
Tom Owen (40:59):
I am Tom Owen underscore artist.
Jen Tough (41:02):
Awesome.
Okay.
And there's no ass on L oh, andit's not really in this.
Tom Owen (41:09):
Thank you.
Jen Tough (41:10):
All right.
So Tom, it was so good to seeyou.
We're on zoom right now, so wecan see each other and thank you
for spending some time with me.
Oh,
Tom Owen (41:20):
you're so welcome.
I've enjoyed this.
It's been great to catch up withthe chat.
So let's stay in touch.
Jen Tough (41:25):
Okay, great.
Tell me, I said hi and me
Tom Owen (41:29):
and
Jen Tough (41:30):
daddy, Emmy.
That's right.
Okay.
Thank you.
All right.
Thanks Tom.
Tom Owen (41:36):
You're welcome.
We'll talk soon.
Jen Tough (41:38):
Thank you so much for listening and supporting this
podcast.
Your support means everything.
If you'd like to learn moreabout the artists lions
community.
Send me a question or learnabout other events or projects
coming up, please visit mywebsite@wwwdotjentough.gallery.
See you next time.
Welcome to tough on art, the podcast for artists
interested in ways to get aheadin today's art market.
I'm Jen tough owner of Jen toughgallery and the artist Alliance
community.
Join me for some down to earth.
Talk about the best ways forartists to navigate this new and
different landscape.
And today I'm super excited tobe talking to my friend, an
(00:21):
artist, Tom Owen.
I first met Tom in 2017 when hecame to my very first gallery
location, which was in Vallejo,California on Georgia street.
It was a beautiful space.
Unfortunately, I had to leavebecause of all the movie
production going on.
Um, he was selected to be in agroup show.
I was doing called guiltypleasures, which was a fantastic
and fun show.
(00:41):
And I met a lot of really goodartists..
He was also a founding member ofan art fair collective, uh, that
I created where artists wouldjoin band together.
And we would have a booth and Iwould represent their work at
our fairs.
So he did a lot of art fairswith me over the years, Tom and
his husband live in a gorgeousVictorian in Northern Kentucky,
across the Ohio river fromCincinnati.
(01:04):
He's an avid art collector.
His home is filled with anincredible collection of
contemporary art, including astunning work by another one of
my.
Gina Tuzzi Tom's work hasevolved over the time that I've
known him moving from colorfulorganic shapes that float on the
canvas to more brightly coloredminimalistic, geometric shapes
(01:24):
and forms that fill the entirespace.
And substrate his work isinspired by landscape, primarily
highly abstracted and distilleddown to minimalist forms, his
subtle texture and layeringmirror, his own psychological
experiences of the subject.
Sometimes giving a glimpse intopast experiences of his
childhood, to politicalrealities of current day.
(01:47):
And we all know what those are.
Tom's media has evolved as well.
Moving from acrylic to flash ahighly pigmented water-based.
Which he applies using squeegeesand scraping large forms onto
his cradled wood panels withinthese forms are a subtle
interplay of color, inviting theviewer to look closer.
And the hand of the artist isvisible as opposed to many
(02:09):
minimalistic works where theartist's hand is not present at
all.
It's one of the things thatmakes his latest series so
interesting to me because itreally stands out and it's
boldness, simplicity and, andhow different it is from a lot
of minimalistic works.
You see a lot of minimalisticworks are so cold and Tom's, you
(02:29):
know, Tom's work has this verysubtle interplay of color and
really sort of draws you in.
You can see Tom's work on mywebsite, Jen Tough gallery, and
you can also check out.
Uh, work on artsy through thegallery, and you can also look
at his stuff on his Instagramfeed and his website and links
of course, will be available inthe show notes.
(02:50):
So thanks so much for joining meand I look forward to this
conversation and I'll see youguys next week.
So, hi Tom Owen, how are youdoing
Tom Owen (03:02):
Jen?
I'm doing great.
Thanks for this opportunity.
I'm looking forward to speakingwith you.
Jen Tough (03:06):
Yeah.
So we met a few years ago.
You were in one of my groupshows, as I recall.
Do you
Tom Owen (03:15):
remember the name of it?
I do guilty pleasures,
Jen Tough (03:18):
right.
And yeah, so that's how we met.
And that was what probably 2017.
Yes.
And the dark Trump days is Irecall, I think we were all sort
of like shell shocked.
Right.
But I got to meet you and yourhusband.
And you guys so nice.
(03:39):
And you actually purchased apiece, you purchased the Gina,
piece.
Was that, that time or was thatanother
Tom Owen (03:44):
time?
Absolutely.
At that time, because Gina hadthe solo going on in that
smaller backroom.
And so we were so taken by herwork, but we, we did purchase
one of,
Jen Tough (03:56):
yeah, that's Gina Tuzzi you guys.
She's one of my other artists,so, so that's how Tom and I met
now, Tom, you are in, are you inCovington, Kentucky
Tom Owen (04:05):
or.
Jen Tough (04:07):
Okay.
You have to get that correct,but that's still super close to
Cincinnati.
Tom Owen (04:11):
It is.
It is right across the Ohioriver.
In fact, from my house, I cansee downtown Cincinnati.
I can see the skyline and I cansee some of the neighborhoods up
on the Hills.
Right.
Jen Tough (04:22):
So I have to ask you this.
I actually just asked my husbandthis, this morning on our walk.
Do you know, what's round onboth sides and hide than.
'cause, you know, I'm an Ohiogirl, right?
So I have to ask everybody whohas some connection to Ohio.
And so my husband who was bornand raised in Napa, he had such
a hard life.
You know, he's like the onlyreason I know this is because
I'm married to you.
(04:42):
So anyway, I had to give you thelittle test
Tom Owen (04:48):
I was born and raised in.
Jen Tough (04:50):
Um,
Tom Owen (04:53):
I grew up in Fairfield, which is about 20
miles, 25 miles Northwest ofdowntown Cincinnati.
Jen Tough (05:01):
Okay.
So it's still kind of, it'sstill kind of south.
Is that kind of close to Athens?
Tom Owen (05:07):
No other way.
Athens is east.
Fairfield is west.
I mean, it really.
From my home where I grew up, itwas literally 20 minutes into
downtown Cincinnati.
Jen Tough (05:18):
Okay.
Yeah.
So you basically grew up inCincinnati, which is cool.
It's a cool town.
Tom Owen (05:23):
It's so princess, it is, it's very European.
It feels very European.
When you're here, we have agreat symphony and art museum
and lots of, lots ofopportunities here.
So it's a great, it's a good.
Yeah.
Jen Tough (05:37):
A lot of people, you know, put Kentucky and Ohio, you
know, like sort of like, sort ofdismiss them, but there's a lot
of stuff going on, you know,Cleveland to like, everyone's
heard of, you know, but theyhave such, you know, just like
Cincinnati, they have such anamazing art scene because
there's a lot of old moneythere.
So like people used to put moneyin symphonies and ballets and
(05:58):
art museums and thatconservatory, oh my God,
Cincinnati.
Beautiful.
Tom Owen (06:04):
It is, it is.
And you know, and the, and the,the contemporary arts center is
an amazing institution that weare so lucky to have in
Cincinnati.
So,
Jen Tough (06:15):
yeah.
So tell me about, you justretired from your corporate gig.
Right?
Tell me about that.
So you were sort of likeslogging away in the studio, all
sort of in your spare time.
Tell me about like the last 10years of your life.
Tom Owen (06:33):
Wow.
The last 10 years of my life.
So I, I will say, you know, Idid paint.
I had been paid all my life andyou know, I, for me, it was a
great.
Way for me to balance my worldquite honestly, because working
in corporate America, I was, Iworked for an insurance company
for 21 years.
(06:53):
I led their learning anddevelopment function for the
entire enterprise.
And we have offices had office,not me anymore, but the company
has offices in Western, in everystate of the union and Canada
and in Mexico.
I was responsible for my teamwas training all of the folks in
all of those different offices,well, over 8,000 employees.
(07:14):
And so, you know, I would painton the weekends.
I would paint in the eveningsbecause it really truly is my
passion.
And it's what I've always donefrom the time I was a small kid.
And, you know, I say in mylittle bio that I, I, you know,
took over a part of the garagewhen I was in high school.
Literally.
It's true.
Put my father out and created astudio in our garage so that I
(07:35):
could paint during high school.
And I've always been a painter.
And it's something that I've, Ilooked forward to doing.
Once I retired from thecorporate world, you know, and
the corporate world gave me anopportunity, relate to, to
survive and to live and to, andto have money, to experiment
with my art and to grow as anartist.
(07:56):
So.
You know, I don't regret any ofthat.
It was, it was tough sometimesbecause I would, I'd be painting
until 10 o'clock every night or11 o'clock in the evening.
And then all day on Saturday,all day on Sunday, uh,
especially in the last five to10 years, because that's really
where my heart and passion were.
Jen Tough (08:12):
Yeah.
Did you find it hard to go from,you know, working during the day
and then coming home andpainting, like making that sort
of psychological switch?
Did you just get used to it?
Like how did you.
Tom Owen (08:26):
That's a great question.
You know, there's, there's awonderful quote from Nicholas
Wilton who said that frequencyis more important than duration.
And when I didn't feel likegoing to the studio, I would
remember that quote because evenif I spent a half hour.
Or just an hour in the evening,then at least I was doing
(08:46):
something in, in my art.
And, but it took me a while toget there because I felt like,
oh gosh, I only have thislimited time.
And I put all kinds of pressureon myself to like, sort of
separate those two worlds intolike, be totally focused on our
while I was here in my studio.
And then.
But over time.
I think for me, you know, I wasable to, to, you know, gosh, if
(09:10):
I needed to respond to acommission request, I could do
that on my lunch hour while Iwas at work.
It was not a big deal.
And I was fortunate enough tohave a flexible boss who and
core values at the company aboutwork-life balance.
So that if I needed to take aday or an afternoon to go visit
a gallery or to do a studiovisit, I had that flexibility.
And so it was a really.
(09:31):
To me, especially in the last 10years I'm working in that
company.
So, you know, it in terms oflike, could I switch it on and
off?
No.
Cause I was always thinkingabout my work and my art rather
than not my work at the company.
Yeah.
It was hard sometimes eveningssometimes I just wouldn't feel
like it.
And you know, and so I didn'tbeat myself up.
I chose not to do art that nightor knowing that, Hey, I've got
(09:54):
all day Saturday that I can workon extra.
So, um, I was so excited toretire though and move and move
my studio out of my house.
I took, I, we live in an oldVictorian home, as you know, and
I have the third floor here asmy studio.
And so to move out of that andto have a much bigger space into
(10:14):
a studio space that has a sinkand all those other kinds of
amenities.
People just sort of take forgranted has been a real, I
think, a real boon to my artmaking and the quality of the
work that I'm doing today versuswhat I was doing even just a
year ago.
Yeah.
Jen Tough (10:30):
Yes.
Because your work really hasevolved really rapidly.
It has.
Tom Owen (10:35):
And I'm having a great time.
Jen Tough (10:37):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, I mean, now explain toeveryone what your, what your
process is right now.
I'm sure they're probablylooking at some pictures of some
of your work, but talk about,you know, cause you've switched,
you, you know, kind of paintyour process.
Everything is different fromwhat you were doing before.
Tom Owen (10:55):
Yeah.
You know, it's funny.
I, I was, somebody asked meabout this the other day and I
was like, I can't remember, likewhen, like what turned me on to
using flash, which is a high,the most highly pigmented paint
you can buy and it's dead flatand I love using it.
It dries its water base it driesquickly and you can mix it.
You can thin it, you know?
(11:16):
There's all kinds of differentways to use this paint.
It was originally developed inthe 1950s for sign painters and
then it's permanent and allthose kinds of wonderful
features.
But I love how flat it is.
Number one, and the fact that Ican manipulate it with a variety
of tools.
So I very seldom use brushesanymore.
(11:37):
Do a lot of brushwork, but now Iuse, I'm looking around here
cause I use, um, can usesqueegees.
I use scrapers, I use an edge ofa ruler I use in like, I have
this large sheet, that's largesheet of plexiglass that I'll
use to pull the paint.
The the panel, you know, and Iused flash on both canvas and
(11:58):
Jessa panels and you get twovery different looks and
experiences.
So if you think about thepainting first draft, the orange
and white one, Jen it's, it'sdone on canvas.
And then if you look at some ofthe others, you know, it's, it's
really done on.
These cradled panels, which Ibuy from ampersand, they're
super smooth, they'rebeautifully finished.
(12:21):
So it allows me to pull thepaint and get lots of variation
and layers and textures andvisual effects that I really
enjoy.
And I don't control a lot of it,you know, and I love, I love
responding to what's happeningas I'm painting versus sort of
plotting it all out.
Okay.
That's now orange and not blueand, or, you know, or that, that
(12:42):
ran over here.
And that's good.
So, so it's, it's great.
And you can just lay her on itand I don't, does that answer
the question?
Jen Tough (12:49):
Yeah, totally.
And I, you know, I love how youdid this switch because I mean,
I'm always, as you know, I'malways harping on artists that,
you know, I want them to dosomething different and because
there's so many abstractexpressionists,
nonrepresentational painters,you know, who use a brush and
they, you know, and they mightcombine media.
But you've really, you know, andyou were kind of separate, you
(13:10):
know, you were kind ofexperimenting with that and
using that in the beginning whenwe first met, and then you made
this pretty radical departure toa much more minimal, you know,
minimalist sort of approachusing the flash with the, you
know, in the squeegee.
And I love it.
I love, I love all of it.
I mean, especially because it'sdifferent and it shows your
growth as an artist.
Yeah, I think you kind of wore,you kind of were tight, like war
(13:33):
out of what you were doingbefore.
Like you were ready to like,sort of take that next step.
I love that.
Tom Owen (13:39):
Absolutely.
Right.
And I, you know, and I, again, Ithink I was reading an article
somewhere that talked aboutflash and I thought, I don't
even know what this is.
I gotta find out about this.
And there are a couple ofmanufacturers of it here in the
states.
I use actually Frank andbourgeois from Paris.
I know it has a very fancy, butthere are some distributors have
(14:00):
it here in the states, but itis, I think the highest quality.
Flash that you combined.
It is.
So it feels, this is going tosound weird, but it's very
similar to guash, but, but itfeels almost velvety when it's
dry.
There's a real it's it's so it'sso soft and I love that about
(14:21):
it.
People are like, can I touch it?
I'm like, sure, go ahead.
It's fine.
They're like, Ooh, it's sointeresting.
So yeah,
Jen Tough (14:28):
it's the same sort of visual qualities of in caustic
in a way.
Yeah,
Tom Owen (14:34):
it does.
You know, I used to work inencaustic many years ago and I,
and I love it.
And it's different in that.
I mean, within Costa gab, itends up being flat.
I always would Polish myencaustics up, so they have a
sheen to them and then theywould eventually cloud over
again.
But, um, it's, it's much thinnerand it's not as, I don't know,
it's really, really supersmooth.
(14:57):
So with encaustic, you alwayshad some feeling of texture.
I think this is.
Jen Tough (15:02):
Yeah.
So I can totally see thatfitting into your aesthetic
style for sure.
When I started seeing all thisnew work, I was so excited and I
was like, it was sort of likewhen I started seeing it, I was,
you know, the first time I waslike, oh, he's found his niche.
He's found his he's found hisway.
Like, yeah.
I, and you know, when I, you hadsent me pictures of when you
(15:23):
installed Gina twosies painting,cause you know, the painting you
bought is one of my favoriteones that she ever did.
And I saw your house and I waslike, oh my God.
I mean, okay, you guys, so Tomhas one of the most awesome.
Art collections ever like justyou guys have such a just
(15:44):
amazing house.
There's no, it's so creative andcolorful and it's not stuffy.
And next time I'm in theMidwest.
I'm going to be stopping by.
We're going to have a cocktail.
Tom Owen (15:56):
You are always welcome here.
I'll tell ya.
But, you know, I think it'simportant to live with art.
I mean, I, we collect the art ofthe artists that we love and I
love being surrounded by thatwork.
It inspires me every day.
Jen Tough (16:09):
Yeah.
And the colors, I mean,everything's everything that you
guys have is so.
Brightly colored.
And, but not like, you know,yucky past destiny kind of
thing.
Right.
It's garish.
Yeah.
It's strong and it's oh, I justlove it.
And so Tom's house is why, whenwas it built?
Like
Tom Owen (16:27):
1894.
Jen Tough (16:31):
Love.
Absolutely love.
So in New Mexico, there's likenone of those kinds of places
here.
Right?
Like it would probably be like,they'd last, you know, like
what, like a few years, youknow, you just, everything is
just so destroyed here by this.
Sun's interesting.
But yeah, it's definitely onething I miss about the Midwest
is all the Victoria.
Tom Owen (16:55):
And we live in a great little neighborhood.
It's very walkable and we walkedto lots of restaurants and bars.
And when we can do that, so his
Jen Tough (17:04):
Kentucky, like the along the river, like along the
Ohio river, is that mostly wherelike in the bigger towns, is
that where it's like moreliberal.
Because it's hard to Kentuckywithout thinking of, you know,
who that's true.
Tom Owen (17:19):
That's a great question.
So, you know, right across theOhio river, there are, you know,
really sort of there's KentuckyNewport.
Bellevue are some of the smalllittle river towns.
And in fact, a lot of rivercaptains lived here before the
turn of the century.
I'll be turning before the turnof the 20th century.
And that's where.
(17:40):
Large Victorian homes sort of,or initially built, but it's
this sort of strip right alongthe river, that is truly a much
more progressive.
And whenever there's an electionand you look at the returns,
it's always this particularcounty public counties right
here, along the river thatalways come in blue.
And then there's one or two sortof in central Kentucky near the
Capitol or near university ofKentucky and Louisville that
(18:03):
come in blue.
Everything else is not blue.
Jen Tough (18:07):
I know, I know people on the west coast, they think
like, oh my God, Kentucky, like,you know, they get a little,
like, you know, they get thatsort of look, you know, like
this and they don't understand.
I mean, when I first moved toLos Angeles in 93 or 92, um, you
know, people, they knew I wasfrom Ohio.
So they said, oh, did you growup in a farm?
(18:27):
It's like that actually, my dadwas a physicist, not a farm, so
yeah, there's a lot ofmisunderstanding, but I think,
you know, the internetdefinitely has helped with, with
that like sort of peopleunderstand a little bit more.
About that.
So let's talk more about likeyour, did you go to school for
art or any kind of creativething or were you more in
(18:50):
business or what was,
Tom Owen (18:52):
that's a great question.
So, you know, I did win twoscholarships out of high school
to one to the art academy andone to a smaller commercial arts
school.
And I, I opted not to pursueeither of those because you
know, when you're 18, you know,truly what's best for you.
Right.
And so I, I made some otherdecisions and I, I did not go to
(19:14):
school for art.
So I'm, you know, I'm mostlyself-taught I take them
workshops and seminars andthings like that along the way.
But, you know, I studied.
Theology and English literature.
So, so my undergrad is inEnglish literature and with a
minor in philosophy andtheology.
And then I taught high schoolfor a number of years before I
(19:35):
got into business.
And so I was actually a religionteacher in two different
Catholic high schools on theOhio in Ohio.
And yeah.
And so, and then, you know, Idid that for, gosh, I'm going to
say 12 years, 13 years maybe.
And you know, one of the thingsI always used to tell my
(19:57):
students is you need to try newthings.
You need to reach, you need togrow, you need to learn.
I taught mostly seniors.
And so it was easy.
To sort of share that messagewith high school seniors, right.
And to take risks and, uh, butto be safe and all those kinds
of things.
And I knew I had been throughthe one high school for almost
10 years and I thought, youknow, I was department chair.
(20:18):
I was super involved in lots ofdifferent things.
I knew every parent there was, Ithought, boy, do I want to do
this one?
I'm 55.
And when I'm 65, No, I don't.
And so, so I sort of took a stepback and said, okay, what skills
do I have that are transferable?
So I really started looking outin business to see, Hey, can I
(20:40):
transition some of my, myteaching skills into a more
lucrative way of life?
And so ultimately I startedworking for a pharmaceutical
research company, a Canadiancompany, as a trainer in their
Cincinnati clinical research.
And so I got a couple ofpromotions and we're with them
(21:00):
for five years before I thenjoined the world of insurance.
Jen Tough (21:06):
Wow.
Art academy of Cincinnati, thisdiscussion.
So we could have been like maybein the same founded.
I know I went there for like aminute.
I think I was smoking too much.
And then I, then I went toColorado to be a ski bum.
So this, okay, so this was 85.
Tom Owen (21:28):
So I'm, I'm a little older than you.
So this would have been at, thiswould have been in 78.
Okay.
Jen Tough (21:34):
So not that far off,
Tom Owen (21:36):
not that far off, right?
Yeah.
But
Jen Tough (21:39):
you, you, you know, you did the right thing because
there was no money.
Like, you know, now, right?
Like you, unless you have atrustful
Tom Owen (21:48):
that's right.
Well, you know, I, I read anarticle.
This has been probably maybe acouple of years ago now that
talked about the economics ofart and going to art school and
that sort of thing.
And.
And I'm going to get thispercentage wrong, but how to
every art school sort ofgraduate, they were saying that,
(22:08):
you know, it's less than 3% thatactually can make a living and
make a living doing the kind ofart that they want to do and
love to do.
And everybody else ends up doingsomething else.
And I thought, okay, so maybe Ididn't make the right choice,
you know, because I've been ableto.
To practice my art and dopainting and create while I've
(22:29):
had these other jobs.
You know, it's not hasn't, likeI said before, it hasn't always
been easy, but it's been, it'sbeen a good experience.
I've never regretted.
Jen Tough (22:39):
You have so much experience like business
experience, which a lot ofartists don't, you know, if they
haven't taken that path and halfof art is business, it really is
right.
Like marketing communication,promoting yourself, you know, I
mean, you've got the writingskills, you've got the business
skills.
I mean, that's huge.
Tom Owen (23:00):
I do, you know, I do feel like that that's been a
real, um, bonus for me to havehad that experience.
You know, I it's like I have,when I get a request for a
commission, you know, I know howto talk to those folks.
I know how to, you know, go intotheir home and look at it and,
and have a conversation aboutwhat do they want to achieve and
(23:21):
why are they going?
You know, all of those thingsthat I had to do as a business
person, you know, so it's, it'sworked out really well.
And the,
Jen Tough (23:29):
I think the business side, your business side has
really allowed you to explorenew things like, you know,
joining the collectives, likeyou were part of my collective,
you know, just exploring, justreally putting yourself out
there instead of just sort ofsitting back and waiting to be
discovered, which is, you know,something that art school
(23:50):
perpetuate.
Oh, you just have to makeamazing art and that's all you
have to do.
And somebody will find you justgoing to find you magically and
then like everything's solvedall your problems or, you know,
it's, it's, you know, you werevery proactive and very, very
business-oriented with your,with your career.
And I think that's extremelypositive, you know?
Tom Owen (24:13):
Well, I, you know, Jen answered that's it wasn't easy
because you know, like anyartists.
You know, you put your heart andsoul and to the work that you
create and then to put it outthere and have somebody judge it
and say, oh no, that's not rightfor my gallery, or that's not
right for the show or whatever,but I think where business
helped me.
Okay.
(24:34):
That's one person's opinion.
There are other opinions out.
And, you know, there, there willbe somebody that likes and
appreciates what I'm doing and Ijust need to find the right
person or the right group ofpeople.
And Hey, thank you for yourtime.
And I move on.
I never want to burn a bridgeand something I learned in
business.
You know, the other thing Ithink that's helped me is to
(24:55):
understand that most galleries,business people, and that, you
know what, they don't have a lotof time to waste.
They're looking to make moneyfor.
Themselves, but also for, youknow, providing art for their
clients.
And that has always helped mewhen I approach a gallery or
when I'm interacting withsomebody like you or another
(25:17):
gallery owner.
And because I know, I knowyou're running a business and I
get that that's okay.
This is not, I know.
Sorry.
Y'all.
It's like, you know, I, I trynot to be high maintenance
(25:39):
because I know there are highmaintenance artists sometimes
not at all.
So I try to have things on timeand the way somebody wants them.
But yeah,
Jen Tough (25:51):
no, you're great.
Okay.
So speaking of Greg, tell meabout your.
Tom Owen (25:57):
So they're actually not up here right now because we
live next door to a little parkand there were children playing
in the park and Fanny, who is aDandie Dinmont terrier decided
she had to come.
Nonstop on it's playing on thepark.
I'm sucking not while we'redoing this podcast.
So she is four years old.
And if you don't know what adandy Dan Monterio looks like,
(26:20):
do a quick search because theyare the funniest looking dog.
In the world and we love thefaster she has personality plus.
And, but she's, she's very longbody, but a big poofy head.
So I wish she were here now andI pick her up so you can see
her.
And then, and then we have Mavisand Mavis is a gosh she's button
(26:42):
out 12 or 13 Norridge terror.
So if you, if you ever saw themovie best in show, and you
think about the little dog Winkythat wins, that wins the dog
show, that's a Norwich terrierand Mavis had.
Personality plus, and anattitude to go with it.
She's very much her own woman.
(27:03):
And we'll tell you when shewants something, how she wants
something.
And then if you don't meet herexpectations, she let you know
that too.
So they're both sweet dogs andwe're very lucky to have them.
They get along.
Fanny tolerance, Mavis Mavis.
I should say tolerance fanning.
Cause Fannie just wants to play
Jen Tough (27:23):
she's younger.
So she's all about that.
But two of the greatest dognames ever Fannie and
Tom Owen (27:29):
Mavis Mavis, and before we had Fannie, we had
blanche.
Blanche was a less Highlandwhite terrier.
We rescued from, she was a, shewas used as a breeder in a puppy
mill.
And so we saved her from.
Horrible life.
(27:49):
And so she was a great dog.
She was probably the best thatwe've ever had.
Sweet as can be.
So,
Jen Tough (27:53):
so tell me about your goals for art.
What do you, what do you, I knowthat's kind of a big question.
Just tell me about like, whereyou kind of want to go and what.
You know, is it multiplegalleries across the country?
Are you trying to get moregalleries?
Are you trying to like, what,just, just talk about that a
little bit.
Tom Owen (28:11):
Like what you use that yeah.
You know, that's a, that's areally good question.
And as a business person, Iwould have annual goals and
objectives and set this for myteam.
I know.
And it's funny because I we'regetting ready to go on vacation.
And I, and I said to me, all myhusband and I said, you know, I
want to take some time while I'mlying on the beach.
(28:33):
And shut down what I want toachieve in 2021 in my art
practice, I'm all about goals.
So I ha you know, I don't, Idon't have them completely
formulated because what I findis I need space to do that, to
really sort of think aboutwhere, where do I want to head?
You know, I've got, I I'd loveto have more, more work in
(28:54):
galleries.
I'd love to sell more.
It's funny.
I enjoy commissions.
I know some artists reallydon't.
They struggle with that a littlebit.
And I get that.
I'm not afraid to walk away froma commission.
I've done it a handful of times.
You know, I sort of have aprocess that I use with clients.
And if we can't come to anagreement, then I I'd say, you
(29:15):
know what?
I am not the artist for you.
Here's a list of other peoplethat you might want to connect
with, but I can't produce whatyou're asking me to produce
because I don't do reproductionsand I'm not.
Not be true to myself and myvision.
So, and th those two thingsdon't meet.
And I I'm, it's funny, thosepeople that I've said, Hey,
(29:36):
okay, you know what?
Let's part ways they stillfollow me on Instagram.
They still, you know, send meChristmas cards, all of those
kinds of things, because we leftthat relationship in a good way,
Jen Tough (29:48):
because I probably would have gone south rapidly.
Tom Owen (29:51):
Yeah, right.
So anyway, in terms of goals, I,you know, I would like to, I'd
like to be in a few moregalleries.
I want to be really selectiveabout that.
You know, I have, you know,where I find that my work is
really well or on the coast,west coast and east coast.
I think, you know, probably I'vehad some success in Florida and
in California, you know, I'dlike to sort of break into the
(30:13):
Charleston region a little bit.
I think there's some opportunityfor me there.
Yeah.
Like I said, my plan is to take,you know, sometime over the next
several weeks.
Flush out those goals.
And here's the thing aboutgoal-setting chat as I never do
more than three big ones,because the reality is if you do
more than three, you're nevergoing to get them achieved
(30:34):
because you're too pulled inlots of different directions.
If all I want to do this andwhat it is, I want to do this
workshop and know, teach thisand.
Then you're not spending yourtime on your practice.
And so, um, I try to limit it tothree to four sort of big goals
for me.
What do I want to, you know,whether it's, Hey, you know
(30:55):
what, I want to expand mystudio.
That could be a goal.
You know, I want to break intothis particular market.
So how am I going to targetdifferent galleries?
That sort of thing, you know,I'm, I'm not, I know, I keep
thinking, I got to find a bettersystem.
I know, I know it's, I mean, Ihave, I use my computer a lot
(31:18):
and I have lots of files, but,you know, Excel was never or
access.
I never had to use those tools.
And so I don't think I'm veryskilled at it and I ended up
getting frustrated.
And so I just go back tocreating the table and word.
I mean, I have all my owncreative spreadsheets and things
like that, but it's oh,absolutely.
(31:41):
Yeah, I was going
Jen Tough (31:41):
to say, Hey, wait a minute.
You're like the businessorganized person.
I can
Tom Owen (31:47):
remember all
Jen Tough (31:48):
this stuff.
A lot of artists.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, I think, especially whenyou're talking about goals, you
know, they they're like, ohyeah, well, I'd kind of like
this.
And it's like, well then how doyou, what steps are you going to
take to get that?
What's your process?
And I think that it's, it'sreally easy to, you know, to
sort of overlook that.
And I think, you know, I knowwith Excel for me, I was like,
there's no effing way.
(32:09):
I'm going to learn Excel becausethen someone's going to ask me
to do.
And, you know, and I, there wasno way.
So I think there's a realaversion to that, but you know,
those tools are helpful when itcomes to like approaching
galleries
Tom Owen (32:22):
and absolutely.
And I will tell you, okay, I'mgoing to get all businessy now.
So.
I used to teach a program toexecutives called the four
disciplines of execution.
And it's actually some work doneby cubby to do some of this
work.
And Larry Bossidy did some ofthis work.
And how do you execute?
(32:45):
You know, these wildly importantgoals.
And, and I still use those,those tools and those processes
in my, in my practice today.
And so, you know, it's abouthaving a scorecard it's about,
and once you get it sort of, youknow, it's about, okay, but set
along the three most importantgoals and what steps you're
going to take, and what's yourvision to get there.
(33:07):
And so on.
How are you writing that downand how are you keeping score
and those kinds of things.
And.
And it feels like it feels likesome work at the beginning, but
then once you get it, oh my God.
Then
Jen Tough (33:20):
you can't live without
Tom Owen (33:21):
it.
You can't live without it.
So I'm a huge, I'm a huge fan ofthe four disciplines of
execution.
Yeah.
Jen Tough (33:31):
Well, I think your business sense has really,
really helped in, you know, itreally advancing your career
really rapidly because.
You know, I mean, just three orfour years ago, I don't think,
you know, you were with agallery and now you've got like
three, right?
Tom Owen (33:47):
Yeah.
So I, you know, well, you know,I, so ABC fine art in Cincinnati
has been showing my work forgosh since, well, probably for
the last eight to 10 years.
Very, I mean, not a lot.
And, and, you know, I've beenvery fortunate to have been with
(34:08):
them and then there've been somesmaller galleries along the way
that have had, you know, I'vebeen with them for a year or a
couple of years, and then, youknow, owners change and they
change their focus and thingslike that.
And, you know, and then there'sa COVID thing.
Right.
So, yeah.
So I'm with, well, Jen Tuftgallery and there is, you know,
(34:29):
art design consultants on withpallet home and paint and
Richmond, Virginia.
And there was the Greenwichhouse gallery here in
Cincinnati, but they've sinceclosed.
So yeah, but you know, so yeah,I've, you know, I've had a
really, I've been reallyfortunate to have that kind of
gallery experience and workingwith gallery owners galleries,
(34:50):
and also.
You know, meeting and workingwith other artists who show in
those galleries.
I think one of the mostimportant things, if somebody is
trying to get into a gallery is,you know, go where your work is
similar because that's what the,that's what the gallery wants to
show at that it has to beidentical, but like, if you're a
realistic landscape, Don't don'ttry to get into a gallery.
(35:13):
That's focused solely onabstraction.
I mean, it doesn't work.
And
Jen Tough (35:17):
then just try to get to know the owner and just try
to, you know, just, you have to,it's all about connecting
Tom Owen (35:25):
with people.
Well, you know, Jen, you talkabout what I learned in
business.
It comes down to relationshipsand I really think that that's
true.
Jen Tough (35:35):
So.
It totally because, you know, Imean, I love your work, but if I
didn't, if I hadn't known youbefore, I don't think I
would've, you know, I mean, youhave to have that relationship
to know like, Hey, is this goingto work?
Do I want to work with thisperson?
Do I want to?
Yeah.
And that's where the databasecomes in handy because then, you
know, 50 galleries may be on thelist that you're hitting up,
(35:58):
keep track of, you know, if theydidn't respond, if you're going
to put, you know, take them offthe list, whatever, like, you
know, I don't know any other wayto do it, but,
Tom Owen (36:08):
well, you know, it's funny.
I it's funny you say thatbecause I just suppose it
yesterday, today sent out myholiday.
Happy holidays, MailChimp, butso.
The I sent out this holidaygreeting and I include not only
people who've purchased work,but who have shown an interest
in my work, even if they'venever purchased anything.
(36:29):
People who asked, you know, I'vedone commissions for as well as
a number of galleries with whomI've had contact over the years.
And, you know, just today I hadtwo of them.
So went out this morning.
I had two of them respondsaying, oh my gosh, it's great
to hear from you.
I love this piece.
And your email, hope you do themwell, you know what?
I'm going to go back and take alook at your website again.
(36:51):
Oh, that's awesome.
So, you know, and that points tothe importance of having an
updated website too.
Right.
So yeah, which I could do betterat
Jen Tough (37:00):
no, I think your website's really good.
I think, I think you are.
You're just, you know, you're,you're knocking it out of the
park.
So tell me where you're findingyour creativity these days.
Whereas where are you drawinginspiration from?
Tom Owen (37:17):
Yeah, that's, you know, that's a hard question,
but I will tell you I'm superwell, so I'm inspired by.
I was an English major, so, andI still read and I still read
poetry and I still loveliterature.
So I read, I read poetry.
I'm inspired by that.
(37:38):
You know, I'm inspired by sortof my, the landscapes around me.
And so I really, I tried try tolook at straggly.
My world.
And that's where, that's where alot of my work comes from today.
When I think about some of thepieces that are, you know, that
I'm doing today, it's reallyinspired by sort of some of the
(38:00):
lines and the shapes that I seearound me that I, I I'd love to
travel.
And that always, gosh, fills meup with lots of.
How have ideas.
I come back with hundreds ofphotographs on my iPhone, and
oftentimes it might be justcolor combinations or, you know,
here's an odd shape where thesetwo colors came together.
And, you know, I couldn't tellyou if it was a sign of a house
(38:22):
in a doorway or whatever thecase may be, because I'm really
inspired by, by the.
Especially using flash becauseyou can do all kinds of crazy
wild things with color withflash.
So does that answer thequestion?
That's it's literature, it's theworld around me?
I don't know.
I know some people are inspiredby music that doesn't always get
me going, but
Jen Tough (38:41):
where are you guys going next?
Cause you were just on Regis inMexico
Tom Owen (38:44):
city.
We were in Mexico city and itwas wonderful.
It was just a wonderfulexperience.
And so we are this week, we areheaded to Anguilla and we just
got all of our.
Yeah, again, another COVIDtests, which were all negative,
which is great.
And then it's crazy.
Cause you had to fly into St.
Martin and then you have to takea boat from St.
(39:05):
Martin over to Anguilla.
And so we have to be, you haveto be tested when we land and
St.
Martin and then again, andAnguilla.
So lots of, lots of COVID teststo come in the next few days.
But so in this vacation isreally what we kind of call our,
do nothing vacation because we,we we'll go and we'll read and
we'll relax.
We'll work on my goals.
We'll have some nice dinner.
(39:26):
Um, and that's sort of justrecharge and Anguilla is there.
It's not very tourist state.
There are, there are no chainsthere, most people rent, condos
or homes.
And so anyway, so that's comingup and then in the spring we are
right now, fingers crossed.
We are headed to Paris for fourdays.
And then from Paris to Moroccofor 10 days, and then back to
(39:52):
Paris for three days after that,
Jen Tough (39:55):
the stuff you're going to, the pictures are going
to take in Morocco.
I can't even
Tom Owen (39:58):
imagine.
I'm so excited.
I know, I know
Jen Tough (40:02):
that's on my bucket list.
I've been to.
I've never been to Morocco.
That's definitely on my bucketlist.
Tom Owen (40:10):
So we're hoping, we're hoping we also have, we also
have, uh, a trip that we plannedfor grease in there, but the
next year, but we'll see.
Cause Neil retires and April ofthis year.
Yeah.
This coming year.
So going
Jen Tough (40:26):
to be like never at home,
Tom Owen (40:28):
right.
I'll be in the studio or we'llbe traveling one of those two.
Jen Tough (40:32):
It sounds so wonderful.
I'm so happy that everything'slike really working out for you
and, you know, it's just so goodto see, you know, Well, thank
Tom Owen (40:42):
you for
Jen Tough (40:44):
your work's beautiful.
And like, if you guys don't knowTom's work, you can go to my
website or you can go to Tom'swebs.
What is your website?
Tom Owen (40:51):
My website is Tom Owen.
Fine.
art.com.
Jen Tough (40:55):
Okay.
Tom Owen, fine art.
And then what are you onInstagram?
Tom Owen (40:59):
I am Tom Owen underscore artist.
Jen Tough (41:02):
Awesome.
Okay.
And there's no ass on L oh, andit's not really in this.
Tom Owen (41:09):
Thank you.
Jen Tough (41:10):
All right.
So Tom, it was so good to seeyou.
We're on zoom right now, so wecan see each other and thank you
for spending some time with me.
Oh,
Tom Owen (41:20):
you're so welcome.
I've enjoyed this.
It's been great to catch up withthe chat.
So let's stay in touch.
Jen Tough (41:25):
Okay, great.
Tell me, I said hi and me
Tom Owen (41:29):
and
Jen Tough (41:30):
daddy, Emmy.
That's right.
Okay.
Thank you.
All right.
Thanks Tom.
Tom Owen (41:36):
You're welcome.
We'll talk soon.
Jen Tough (41:38):
Thank you so much for listening and supporting this
podcast.
Your support means everything.
If you'd like to learn moreabout the artists lions
community.
Send me a question or learnabout other events or projects
coming up, please visit mywebsite@wwwdotjentough.gallery.
See you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.