Biography

Tom An artist and a teacher for over twenty five years, Thomas J. Owen is a nationally recognized painter in watercolor, oil and pastel media. His work ranges from landscapes to figurative and he enjoys developing designs from subjects such as steam locomotives, fishing boats, rustic architecture and intimate scenes from nature. His perspective on art is to paint his subjects in a manner that exhibits the best qualities of the media.
Tom grew up in a small town in central Pennsylvania where he developed his love of art, the natural world and sport. He was an all-state fullback in football and attended college on a football scholarship. An education graduate of Northwest Missouri State University, he became interested in art after college and studied with Robert E. Wood, Ed Whitney and Rex Brandt.
Owen has established himself as one of the Southwest's premier landscape painters and has won over 50 awards in National and International exhibitions including the Mario Cooper & Dale Myers Medal from the American Watercolor Society, the Rouse Gold Medallion in the Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolor, the Jurors Choice in the San Diego International Watermedia exhibition, and Best of Show from both the Colorado Watercolor Society and the Society of Watercolor Artists.
Tom currently teaches painting to all levels of students at the Pikes Peak Community Collage and the Cottonwood Artists School in Colorado Springs. He also conducts workshops across the United States in watercolor and plein air painting. To see all of his currently scheduled workshops, go to Workshops.
Hubble Barn
Artist Statement

"I like water-based media because of the possibilities of the flow of the pigment and the subtle interplay and blending of colors. This fluidity creates wonderful atmospheric effects and gives the elements of landscape a quality which can be captured no other way. I think Watercolors should be juicy and flowing with explosions of color.
When painting with oils, I start them very much like watercolors, with thin translucent washes of color, and then move the paint towards heavier pigments to create a rich variation of surface textures. Pastels are best when they have a feeling of layered pigment combined with strong color."
"My gallery work leans toward more traditional landscapes. For my competition paintings, I seek subjects that might often be overlooked: textures and patterns in vintage objects such as machinery, or the juxtaposition of functional shapes superimposed on an abstract underpainting. I like marrying the real and unreal into one composition."
Signature Memberships
  • American Watercolor Society
  • Kansas Watercolor Society
  • National Watercolor Society
  • Pennsylvania Watercolor Society
  • Pikes Peak Watercolor Society
  • Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Society
  • San Diego International Watercolor Society
  • Society of Watercolor Artists
  • Taos National Society of Watercolorists
  • Texas Watercolor Society
  • Watercolor West
  • Western Federation of Watercolor Societies

Mr. Owen is also listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World.