Artist Biography

Tom Lewis is a premium degree pencil wizard, and mouse master of the first order. Born in
Birmingham in 1979, he is at present working as an artist and illustrator in the east end of
London.

Leaving his A-Levels to fend for themselves, he left school to study art at college and went
on to a Fine Art degree at Middlesex University. Whilst at University Tom had a very
strange experience on a train, which sparked the series of events that lead us here. The
story is too long to be told now although, briefly, it led to the creation of a
mythological 18th century French philosopher, the forging of a sword and the images that
you see today.

His work can be described as an attempt to order that which he cannot, to create meaning
where there is none and provide narrative to an otherwise story-less situation.
Alternatively, for the moment, he likes the phrase ‘beautiful nonsensical meaning’.

The ideas for characters come from a mixture of random doodling and a fascination with
really weird people. Both of which became obsessions whilst working part time in an
Arts and Crafts shop to fund his painting habit. The background accompanying each
character forms part of the epic story that lives inside Tom’s head. It is constantly
evolving, and has the unfortunate ability to make him laugh out loud in public.

Tom works with a variety of techniques and processes to achieve the end result, be it a
Giclee print, canvas or digital file. Usually starting with a pencil, he uses marker pens,
biros, acrylic paint, aerosol cans, airbrushes, varnish, cardboard, digital camera,
computer and fingers. Though not necessarily in that order.