Making his fifth appearance at The Grand Tasting, Thomas Arvid will have brush and canvas in-hand painting live before your own eyes. As if the over 200 wines aren’t enough to whet your palate, Arvid's paintings will tantalize your taste buds with vivid depictions that subtly remind us of the sublime experiences had while sharing a good wine with loved ones and friends. Read more about Thomas Arvid's life and career below.
Thomas Arvid was born in Detroit, MI in 1964 and always wanted to be an artist. His parents, having an understandably practical concern for their son’s financial stability, encouraged him to get a degree in art and become a teacher. Thomas had other plans and after working for sign painters and printers, left for Atlanta where he lived in a large loft downtown and taught himself to paint with oils.
While painting in Atlanta’s popular Café Tu Tu Tango in the early 1990’s it took Thomas three tries to finish the red wine piece because the canvases kept selling off his easel. It quickly became clear that he was on to something big. An admirer of his work commissioned him to paint a bottle of Silver Oak cabernet but insisted Thomas drink the bottle first, opening his palette to the world of fine wines for the first time and embarking the young artist on what would become his life’s work.
Arvid paintings have very little in common with traditional still life. In fact, the artist considers himself more of a landscape painter whose subject is the landscape between two people or the terroir of an evening. There is almost never a straight-on composition or a line that doesn’t run off the edge of the canvas. The images are intentionally cropped to lead the eye outside of the frame and let the mind wonder what else the room holds…invariably the observer fills in that space with their own memories and their personal connection to the piece is sealed.
Admirers and collectors of Arvid paintings have reached a certain level of sophistication and success in their life, and are themselves Arvid’s favorite part of his profession. Most become dear friends and his frequent travel for gallery shows is now an extension of his social life. The heavily attended gallery events across the country grow every year and Arvid is never at a loss for an invitation to share a glass of wine or take a boat ride or stay an extra night in someone’s guest house.
Traveling with his ukulele, ready smile and watercolor kit so he can work on the plane, Thomas has become a familiar site at fine art galleries across the country, but can’t wait to get home to his wife Vanessa and their two young boys. His upbeat personality coupled with brilliant work that ignites passion with his collectors has resulted in steady growth since that first trip to Art Expo New York in 2000. At any given time one can find Arvid work hanging in close to 50 galleries worldwide. His editions continue to sell out and even the retrospective hardback book “Arvid: Redefining the Modern Still Life” is a highly sought-after collector’s item. In the fall of 2012, while still at the midpoint of his career, Arvid will celebrate his first solo museum exhibition at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Fine Art. In a fickle industry, Arvid’s continued success is a testament to the allegiance and enthusiasm of his collectors, and also to what is still possible in America when hard work and positivity meet talent and passion.
