Woodland Flower Seasons, 2024, Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 inches

“My interest in charts and graphs and maps is reflected in much of my work: What would it look like if perennial garden flowers were placed according to their season of bloom and their heights? Where would the winning cars of the Indianapolis 500 be if they were all in the same race and placed according to their speeds? What would it look like if all the US birds that nest in birdhouses and their houses were located in a picture according to their house heights and habitats? What might come of some vertical lines drawn freehand down the canvas?” - Tom Shelton, 2025

Tom Shelton lives and works in Bloomington, Indiana. He has a Bachelor’s in Botany from the University of Cincinnati, studied Forestry at the University of Michigan, and earned a Master’s of Fine Arts in painting from Eastern Michigan University in 1972. Shelton’s artworks are included in the collection of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., the JPMorganChase Art Collection, New York and the International Headquarters of Fiserv in Milwaukee. This will be Shelton’s first exhibition at Solway Gallery since 2008.

“Shelton’s paintings do not tell us such things as how-to-get-from-here-to-there or where it is we should stay; they simply say, “explore and travel with me.” And so we do: through Georgia’s woodlands; under trees, over paths; or atop streams and wavy seas in one of his vintage sailing crafts. His painting entitled Trappings is the product of laborious calculation, of Shelton’s devotion to number and to topographical fact. But, rather than transform us into mathematicians, Trappings takes us on safari—we become hunters in search of Adventure and metaphoric game. . . . Many worlds to tour in these deceptively simple graphs.” - Douglas Blau, Flash Art Magazine