Thomas Stevens sketching a model - photo by Elizabeth Matheson
Artist Bio
Thomas Stevens claims his art career began with a life drawing class while a student at UNC Chapel Hill - even though he was, to the puzzlement of his parents, majoring in children’s literature. Struggling with a lifelong inability to decide what he wants to do when he grows up, Stevens persisted in attempts at drawing, sculpture, and painting. In the 50 years he has lived in North Carolina, Stevens overcame nominal success working as a pre-school teacher, social worker, therapist, non-profit executive, leadership consultant, antiques dealer, and seven-term small town mayor, only to become a full time artist.
In 2015 Stevens opened a modest art gallery in downtown Hillsborough at the site of a former attorney office and failed vape shop. His body of artwork includes whimsical still life paintings, colorful local landscapes, and an alarming number of people who have lost their clothes. His galley has been featured several times in the News of Orange, and has received numerous likes on Facebook. The gallery expanded in 2021 to include an upstairs working studio, where the artist continues to create artworks he describes as mostly harmless.
~Thomas Stevens