Thomas
Rebek first visited Boston in the summer of 1967. He immediately
fell in love with the city and decided to move here as soon as
his teaching tenure ended at Cornell University in 1969. “I’ve
loved every minute of my time in Boston,” says Thomas. “The
four seasons have sparked my interest in painting the same sites
in the city over and over again with great variety.”
He
portrays his love for cityscapes, seascapes and landscapes in
his warm watercolors, sensitively depicting the scenes and events
of each area. From 1969 to 1978, he lived and painted in Boston’s
Fenway area. More recently he has moved to the South End, but
his brush has captured scenes from all around Boston and Massachusetts.
His painting style is realism with a strong expressionist color
palette and a hint of impressionism. He is most inspired by Winslow
Homer, John Singer Sargent, Andrew Wyeth, Maurice Prendergast,
Childe Hassam, Claude Monet, Charles Burchfield, Ogden Pleissner,
Joseph Mallord William Turner, and Walt Disney.
“I
paint on site as weather permits, produce sketches and take many
photographs to document my experiences,” says Rebek. He
works exclusively in watercolors because this media gives him
the excitement to explore color and form in a fresh way every
time he paints. He describes it as immediate as writing a letter
to a friend or loved one. “Either I say just what I want
to say to that person (in this case, my viewer) on paper or throw
it away and start over until I feel I’ve expressed the right
intention and meaning.”
Thomas
earned his BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
and his MFA from the University of Illinois. He is a member
of the Copley Society of Boston, where he achieved Copley
Master status. He is a past president of the New England
Watercolor Society and a distinguished artist of the Concord
Art Association. He has won several major awards from these
art associations as well as the Cape Cod Art Association
and the Cambridge Art Association. Prints
of Thomas Rebek's watercolors are available at Massachusetts
Bay Trading Company.
|