Taking advantage of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park, I would draw the landscapes and people around me. Financial restraints prevented me from taking advantage of my acceptance to the Philadelphia Art Museum College, but I focused on live model figure drawing classes.
After this early study, I continued to attend classes and workshops held by individual artists wherever I lived, refining my skills in oil painting in impressionistic and renaissance methods. I entered art shows throughout the southeast, showing and doing charcoal and pastel portraits under the name Tobi Hutchinson. Many of my figure paintings in charcoal, pastel, oil, and acrylic now hang in many places in the U.S.A., Canada, and Europe.
When life led me to St. Simons Island, GA, I revisited the theater days of my youth as an art director for the Casino Theater. For two years, I designed and created scenery for dramatic and comedic plays. During this time, I also had a graphic arts business, doing pen and ink floor plans and exterior renderings for an upscale real estate agency on both St. Simons and Sea Islands.
Changes in family life enabled me to attend the University of Georgia, achieving a degree in Physical Science. After retiring from a career in cartography and computer graphics, I have continued my art education by attending numerous workshops. These studies have focused primarily on watercolors and live model figure studies. All of my work is original, and most subjects come from my personal digital photographs or live model sittings in open studios around Charlotte, NC.
Five years ago I was the featured artist in the October 2005 issue of the York County magazine. Presently I display my work at the Charlotte Art League in Charlotte, NC.