We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tom Hoitsma. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tom below.

Hi Tom, thanks for joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

About 7 years ago I was given a book by a friend called “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert. One of the things Elizabeth talks about is to not quit your day job. Find a way to make your art without putting all the financial pressure on your work. That financial pressure will completely taint the direction of your work if it is your sole source of income. She had produced four books, including the best selling novel “Eat, Pray, Love” before she quit her bartending job in New York CIty.

This advice I took to heart. While I have been making art my entire adult life and have been embraced by many galleries around the country, it wasn until 2 years ago, at 62 that I decide it was time to focus 100% of my time and attention on my art. And the fact is, I still pick up a side hustle every now and again. My feeling is your art will always be there, so make sure when you take this giant step that you are in a financial position to be able to do that without feeling as if you will be unable to make your monthly bills.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been making visual art my entire life. I went to art school and except for a few years in my early 20’s when I was too poor to afford a studio or a big enough apartment, I have continue to produce work. This has never been a “hobby”, but a practice that I have always taken seriously, and to which I have dedicating most of my creative energy. Up until 2 years ago, because of studio limitations I have been painting, but in late 2021 when I moved to a new studio I began creating metal wall sculptures.

These sculptures were inspired by a traumatic event. In October 2019 my kids and I learned first-hand a brutal lesson about the climate crisis. Dallas used to see one tornado each year. For the last few years that number had tripled and the intensity of the tornados has increased. On October 20, 2019 one of these super tornados ripped through our Dallas neighborhood. With winds up to 140 miles per hour and three quarters of a mile wide, this tornado literally came right down my street. By some act of God, the tornado jumped over the first 5 houses on the west end of the street (including my house which I was in at the time with my kids), but destroyed most of the homes just east of us. We have all seen images of this kind of destruction on television but to walk the neighborhood the next morning, and see the destruction with my own eyes was completely surreal and deeply disturbing.

On our walk the morning after the tornado, my 12 year old daughter and I bumped into a couple standing in front of their home. It was destroyed. The roof was gone, a few interior walls were standing but most of the exterior walls were just piles of brick. The couple pointed to an interior white door that was still standing (the exterior walls to that room were gone) and said, “do you see that white door? We were all huddle behind that door when the tornado ripped the roof off the house. The air was thick with debris flying around and we all just clutched each other until it finally passed. In front of that door used to be our bedroom (there were no walls standing). We’re so grateful that the four of us made it out without a scratch.”

And that made me think about how people are so resilient. Events in our lives can break our hearts but somehow we cannot be defeated. Like these sculptures, our hearts get tangled, bruised and battered but still remain full of hope and joy. We all immerge forever changed from many experiences but eventually, hopeful for the future. It became clear that the twisted metal that was strewn throughout the neighborhood was the perfect metaphor. So I collected some of this this material, which had been literally ripped off of these homes, brought it back to my studio, and went to work on giving it a new life as something vibrant and beautiful. These sculptures, born of the tragedy created by the 2019 tornado, are an examination of the impact of the “new normal” we are now living in, and how humans consistently are able create joy from loss and beauty from tragedy. They are a metaphor for the unstoppable healing power of the human heart.

The first few of these sculptures were made from materials I collected from the debris fields in my neighborhood. These materials soon became too limiting and I now fabricate the metal to mimic the debris I original picked up.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

In the early 80’s I worked for a world renown gallerist in New York City. At that time I thought “success” as an artist was to find representation by a New York gallery and if you couldn’t then you were a failure. But that is just not true.

What I didn’t know is that there are different “levels” in the art world. There are those that have New York representation and sell their work to the super affluent or museums but there is another level that works with the interior designer community in every city across the country. This is a thriving billion dollar segment of the art market and also a segment that works with average people creating objects that bring joy peoples lives.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I make house jewelry. The most rewarding aspect of my work is seeing the joy on my collectors face when I install one of my pieces. I feel my work transforms a room and to see that first hand is a very satisfying feeling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tomhoitsma.com
• Instagram: Hoitsma_Art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tom.hoitsma
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhoitsma/

Image Credits

Michael Carter