About the artist
Thomas J. “Tom” Owen was born on August 20, 1945, and grew up in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, where he was an outstanding high school athlete in football, wrestling and track. He played college football at George Washington University before transferring to Northwest Missouri State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Education.
After a tryout with the Washington Redskins, Owen became a teacher. While teaching in Pueblo, Colorado, he enrolled in an evening watercolor class, and that class set the direction of his life. He painted for more than fifty years, working in oil, pastel and mixed media, but watercolor remained his first love.
Owen earned signature membership in the American Watercolor Society, founded in 1866, and the National Watercolor Society, founded in 1920. Both honors are earned only through repeated selection by the juries of the societies’ international exhibitions. He was elected to signature status in ten watercolor societies in all. His awards include the AWS Mario Cooper & Dale Meyers Medal, the NWS Harriet Wexler Bartsch Memorial Award (1994), and the Adirondack Wilderness Award and Gold Medallion of the Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors (1995).
His subjects ranged from Western landscapes and plein air studies to steam locomotives, fishing boats, rustic architecture, horses and intimate scenes from nature, all rendered with a keen eye for design and texture.
A dedicated teacher, Owen taught painting and design at the college level and led watercolor classes and workshops across the country. In the 2000s he taught at Pikes Peak Community College and the Cottonwood Artists School in Colorado Springs.
Tom Owen died on March 9, 2019, near his home in Loveland, Colorado.
Photographs
Credentials
- Signature member, American Watercolor Society (AWS), founded 1866
- Signature member, National Watercolor Society (NWS), founded 1920
- Elected to signature status in ten watercolor societies
- Taught painting and design at the college level; led watercolor workshops across the country
Awards
He won numerous awards from the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society and other watercolor societies, including:
- Mario Cooper & Dale Meyers Medal, American Watercolor Society
- Harriet Wexler Bartsch Memorial Award, National Watercolor Society, 1994
- Adirondack Wilderness Award and Gold Medallion, Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors, Old Forge, New York, 1995
Provenance and authenticity
The paintings on this site come from the artist’s family collection. After Tom Owen’s death in 2019, the works in his estate passed by descent to his widow, and then by gift to his daughter.
Each work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and provenance signed by the artist’s daughter. The certificate carries the work’s inventory number (for example, TJO-001), a photograph of the work, its title, date, medium and dimensions, whether it is signed, and its provenance. The same inventory number is on a label on the back of the work.
Signed works are described with the wording and position of the signature. Works he left unsigned are described as unsigned, and no signature is ever added to them. Labels on the back of a work, such as exhibition entry labels, are left in place and noted on the work’s page.
The certificate documents the work’s family provenance. It is not an independent appraisal or expert authentication.
Shipping
- Unframed works ship flat, never rolled, and insured, within the United States.
- Framed works are available for local pickup on the Colorado Front Range, or can be shipped; shipping is quoted per piece.
Questions about a work, shipping or pickup are welcome at [email protected].
A note on the name
The artist’s surname is Owen. He signed his paintings Thomas J. Owen and was known to friends and students as Tom Owen. His work occasionally appears elsewhere under the misspelling “Owens.”