Thomas Renner (Tom) at Benjamin Art Gallery

Tom was born in Hagerstown, Maryland in 1948.  He spent his school days in the local public schools and graduated in 1966.  Growing-up in a neighborhood with many other children near his age, there were always enough boys to have a sandlot ballgame or to strike out on a new boyhood adventure.  From early on, Tom had an interest in art and science and books related to each.

After graduation from high school, he attended Hagerstown Junior College for a year.  Upon receiving a tuition scholarship, he spent the following year at Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio.  He found this year vital in changing his attitude about the purpose of art, as well as, the approaches to the creative process.  The fall of 1968 found him back at Hagerstown Junior College.  As a result of the possibility of being drafted during the Vietnam War, Tom enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in the spring of 1969.  In June 1970, he married his wife Patty.  During his enlistment, Tom and Patty spent two years at Yakota Air Base near Tokyo, Japan.  While in Japan, he worked in military intelligence.  He received an honorable discharge in May 1972.

The summer of 1972 provided poor prospects in the local job market and as a result, Tom decided to return to college on the G.I. Bill.  He graduated with honor in 1975 from Shepherd College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education.  In 1981, he received a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education from the University of Maryland.

Tom has been teaching art in the public schools of Washington County, Maryland since 1975.  During his career, he has taught art to middle school, high school, elementary school, and college students.  Currently he is teaching elementary school and is an adjunct faulty member in the art department at Hagerstown Community College.

During his summers, Tom has also worked as a graphic designer and illustrator in interpretive design.  His exhibits appear in National Parks and other locations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

His fine art consists of three distinct styles.  One is a symbolic arrangement of realistic forms in unusual juxtapositions and another is a more traditional approach to subject matter.  His latest work has gone abstract and is influenced by the ancient petroglyphs.  Regardless of subject matter or artistic style, it is his intention to reach beyond design and technique to create a sense of the spiritual and serendipity between himself and his work and between the work and the viewer.  He works mainly in acrylics and oil and created many drawings that precede finished works.

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The Art of War (Prints)