Introducing the art of Thomas Bromley (Interview)

THOMAS BROMLEY

DESTIG TORONTO - ART | DESIGN | TRAVEL - ISSUE 09 / JANUARY 2021

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"HOW MARVELOUS THAT THEY BROUGHT FORTH SUCH MAGNIFICIENCE FROM THEIR BRUSHES AND CHISELS." - ANONYMOUS

"I paint what is hard to see or can't be seen. I don't paint the tissue, but that which connects the tissue. (What's in between) Thought forms that are autonomous, independent, not subject to control from outside. A trace, track or a print, or a visible sign left by something vanished or lost, "Techno Tribal"."

0202 FO TSEB GITSED

Thomas J. Bromley has his studio and residence in

Father came from a family of preachers as did my mother

Chaves County, New Mexico, a few miles northwest

of 16 years old; fundamental Christians in the extreme,

of Roswell in an area known as Peaceful Valley. He

world was coming to an end, constant bible study,

has been painting with oils from the age of 12. Born

meetings, and large revivals and conventions, thousands

in Detroit, Michigan, summer of 1951, raised in Las

of people. However, these conventions and revivals would

Vegas, Nevada and moved to New Mexico 40 years

be held all over America. My mother and father didn't

ago to set up a studio and paint pictures.

have much trouble traveling across country with very little money and an old Nash car.

THOMAS J. BROMLEY IN HIS OWN WORDS I was born in Detroit, Michigan, 6 Mile and Woodard,

They taught my brother and myself to camp along the

near Palmer Park in the summer of '51. My father

road, to bathe and clean up in the lakes, rivers and ponds

was Canadian born in London, Ontario in 1933. He

along the way, slept in the car, or under a tarp and eat at

worked construction and for the railroad. He did

the camp fire. We never stayed in a motel or ate at a cafe,

what he could to keep us at the high end of poverty.

no money for that. I remember a couple of times we made

We lived in a basement the first couple of years of

trips from Detroit to Southern California, Arizona or

life, cold and damp in Downtown Detroit.

Nevada to attend these large religious gatherings. (This

"Symbols are a language of the mine field, the imagenation. They are timeless _and don't always need words to satisfy them, Lingua lgnota, or unknown tongue; Maybe, you can't see a flower, but its fragrance is in the air so you know it is present."

was in the 1950's) The southwest had

most

weather that was more agreeable for

information or record an event on the

camping out under the stars.

planet.

The folks also liked to hike and explore

The original meaning behind most of the

the southwest deserts and mountains and

petroglyphs are still tucked in behind

this is how I got to see my first

many of the symbols after hundreds or

petroglyphs. The First Nation people who

thousands of years. Symbols are a

lived in the desert country had learned

language of the mine field, the image-

how to make a life for themselves and

nation. They are timeless _and don't

family, build towns and cities, farms,

always need words to satisfy them, Lingua

flocks, and still had time to be creative in

lgnota, or unknown tongue; Maybe, you

many ways. The one that knocked me out

can't see a flower, but its fragrance is in

was the petroglyphs, in what seemed to

the air so you know it is present. Symbols

be in the middle of nowhere. Where

can mean many things to different folks.

enduring

material

to

store

suitable rock surfaces were available, the artisans of these people would carve,

Symbols can be very simple but very deep,

hammer, peck out or scratch some

like a key that unlocks a very old story of

incredible images. I was very young, but I

something familiar but not quite defined.

remember looking at all those images

Objects

with absolute wonder. I now know that

memory, it's called psychometry. So, at a

you can find this primitive art form all

very early age I started to gain an

over the planet. It has proved to be the

understanding of the value of symbols

can

retain

information

or

and their ability to transcend time. A year or so later, I

I took them home and painted my first oil painting, of all

was eight years old and our family moved to southern

things a sailboat - kind of, and was hooked for life. By

Nevada, to Las Vegas. My father liked the warmer

this time in my life my father had steady employment

climate and better employment opportunities. There we

with the phone company as a splicer, but there was no

were, fundamental Christians in Sin City 1959. Vegas

money for children.

was a small town back then, hot, full of opportunities and huge vast deserts. I don't really remember a time in my

By the time I was 12 years old I was hiring out for the

life when I did not draw pictures. My mother's younger

summers for construction, landscaping, house painting,

sister was very talented at drawing and some painting,

whatever it took to make a buck so I could have my own

and I picked up a lot of tips and tricks watching her; as

money. Back then, a hard days work for a kid in the

well as watching her with pencils, markers, crayons.

Nevada sun paid $5.00 for 8 hours or about 60 cents an hour. That was a lot of money for a kid; but then my

I learned quickly and enjoyed the process. Church, bible

mother taught me the way the world does math, she

study, and religious conventions filled our lives. I

said, if I was going to work, then I was going to pay my

remember at the end of the chapters or articles in

way in the family by giving her half of my pay.

religious magazines, books and even the Bible itself, there would be a blank space with no writing. I would

Half of my pay in her world was $3.00 and I got $2.00 for

draw pictures in these spaces thinking how good it was

myself. I still managed to buy my own oil paints, a brush

that I was afforded some relief from too much studying.

or two, some canvas boards and I made my own easel

In the 50's and 60's, Las Vegas was a solid adult town,

out of some construction trash on one of the jobs. I was

not really a lot for a 12 year old child soaked in religion

13 years old, painting pictures and being a kid when a

to do. So, like a lot of kids, I was going through other

neighbor offered to give me $5.00 for one of these

people's trash on trash day and came across some used

paintings. Ca-Ching! A day's wages for a painting?

oil paints, brushes, and canvas board in bad shape.

WOW! This was a good arrangement.

I started painting pictures for money. At first 5 to 6 dollars through 10 dollars and 20. By the time I was 15 years old I was in the local newspapers listed as an artist selling' paintings for $100.00 sometimes more.

Remember, this was 1966, $100.00 was the equivalent of a week's work for a grown man. What started out as a good thing for my parents, especially for my mother,

"By the late 60's my paintings hung in many cafes downtown, doctor's offices, lawyers, in the school offices and local galleries in Vegas and Boulder City."

started to go sideways with my father.

He didn't understand why people were paying me so

the school offices and local galleries in Vegas and

much for my paintings, sometimes more than he made

Boulder City. I was also selling at local street shows and

at the phone company. In his way of thinking I believe

a fair or two. The paintings I did back then were varied.

he saw what I was doing, was vanity or something, not

Most of the time I painted pictures that I was confident

actual proper work. He was a preacher and he was

would sell, like landscapes, still- life, interiors, cute

pressing me hard to be the same. He believed the world

curious paintings. Folks would give me photographs to

would end soon and the work of the Lord is what I

paint from as well. I never settled on a style really. I

should be engaged in. By the late 60's my paintings

enjoyed the process of making pictures and watching

hung in cafes downtown, doctor's offices, lawyers, in

people react to them. There was and still is so much to

"What an effort and a torment it is to depict something you can't understand, ... an event or visitation, a spiritual experience."

draw from, so many subjects to paint. Symbolism has

the petroglyphs with a sleeping bag and a camp fire,

always interested me. Artists that painted Surrealism,

and WOW! What an experience that could be. The

Cubist Painters, Impressionist, painters that took

figures and symbols would come alive and dance in the

advantage of symbols in their work always interested

firelight. Much was learned on those nights.

me, but I really never developed a keen interest in anybody else's work. I don't have a favorite artist that I

I was inspired by the simplicity of Rock Art. Keep in

look to.

mind this was way before these places were made into state parks where you have to pay money to see them

I was a terrible student in school, but I was good at

and you are not allowed to spend the night. Inspired is a

artwork, so I taught myself to paint pictures, that's

good word for what I felt about these ancient artisans.

what I was good at and the schools passed me through

Remember these First Nations People's did not have a

the grades based on my artwork. By the 1970's I was

written language and the language they spoke did not

19-20 years old, married, and had started a family. I

always have words to describe the many experiences

was painting miniature paintings in oil glazes using

they lived through. So with much effort and trouble

copal resins, down to 1 Yz" square.

these artists would carve into stone the blessings, religion, hunts, battles, deaths, and births and

My eyes and hands were young and steady. I sold

dreamtime along with the obvious visitations of beings

almost everything I painted. I was mostly in galleries at

from the sky and spirit world. What an effort and a

the time. Landscapes, Still Life, and Flowers were fun,

torment it is to depict something you can't understand,

but I also painted Dreamtime, Symbols, Surrealism,

... an event or visitation, a spiritual experience. These

never forgetting the petroglyphs I saw as a child and all

ancient people did not have a reference mentally, they

of the places in the Mojave Desert around me that

could draw from, to clearly define these experiences. It

were full of ancient artwork in stone. There were times

could take weeks if not years to carve this information

I would camp out under the stars next to the walls of

into stone.

"I see myself as a primitive, self-taught, native, capricious artist.

I live in a very technological world."

They were primitive people trying to define a technological event. This is the source I draw from when I use the words, "Techno Tribal". To a large degree this is how I view myself and the work I've been doing the past 30 or more years in New Mexico. ' My paintings are in oils, mostly on canvas, relatively smaller paintings up to 6 square feet, most approximately 2 and 3 square feet.

I see myself as a primitive, self-taught, native, capricious artist. I live in a very technological world. New Mexico has excellent light, it is somehow very full of life and color. New Mexico has a long history of artists from the ancient to the present. The climate and land is good.

Southeast New Mexico, where I live, has a very mild climate, not much rain, but lots of clear days with full light. No floods, earthquakes, tornadoes or tsunamis.

We have 4 seasons, it's hot in the summer, cold in the short winters and sometimes we get more wind than we like. That's about it. The light in New Mexico is full of wonder. New Mexico also has a long history of technological events, knowledge, science, rockets and

visitations. It has a multicultural blending of the ancient with farms and ranches, and space travel.

The paintings I'm doing now are of course in oils.

I've been keeping a simple palette choosing to stick with primary colors and blend all the colors I need.

I paint with a lot of transparent glazes, one over the other to achieve a color or effect.

My paintings are not named. The reason behind this is simple, I do not want to influence the viewer's imagination. A name to me is like a fence, it defines an area and restricts the mindsight of the viewer. If I name a painting "Bobs Apple Cart", because there's red in the painting, but nothing else can be related to the name, the viewer could pull up a brain bubble or even pull a muscle, who knows what. So I've been giving them a number based on the date they were finished. It suits the paintings I've been doing as of late. Also, these paintings aren't necessarily about what is painted or the subject, but more about how it's painted.

(Not what, but how). These paintings are not about a thing - they are things in themselves. I find myself organic, of the earth, but woke to self, organic consciousness, aware of my own thoughts, producing works of a vestigial nature dealing with pareidolia, allegory, egregores, psychometry.

These paintings are truly, "more at else". The brain is a thing, an organ. The mind is a collective place.

The brain is not a storage unit, but it can access the mind field. This is what the computer people are calling, "the cloud". Everything in, on, or above us on this planet is imprinted with memory. Symbols are the key, the Lingua lgnota. Knowledge is the enemy of faith. I paint by faith in the symbols, not by the knowledge of a set procedure. In today's world we need more wonder, more magic.

"These paintings are not about a thing - they are things in themselves."

There are literally millions of artists, artisans and craftsmen presenting visual input to the world inspiring higher levels of thinking building our societies, accessing our hopes and dreams. Thoughts and images are like pollen in the ethereal when they fall on fertile ground they take root and grow.

I try to keep my work simple and not put too much specific information into the image allowing the viewer to use their own experiences and imagination.

My paintings start out in what I call notes, small sketches of a thought, a sound, a memory, or something not clearly defined. This sketch is given some attention sometimes added to or reduced to a base level when I feel the image is ready t apply it to the canvas. Then I add color as the image requires. Colors in themselves add another dimension of the symbolic process, they also have a language. Thoughts are things, ideas possess people. The subconscious offers a deep level of support to thought. Dreams are not in us like the internet, but are in or on all things printed or recorded on all that surrounds us. The brain is a thing, a mind is a

It is used as a way to add depth, clues, and mystery, not

place. I have of course experimented with different

a secret but more at private. I don't always have

mediums, paints of all kinds, colored pencils, crayons,

something to look at as a model to paint from. Most of

chalk, pastels, wax, ink, over the past, almost 60 years; I

the time I paint what is hard to see or can't be seen. I

have always come back to oil paints. I like them for their

don't paint the tissue, but that which connects the

permanence, their strength, they are forgiving, they

tissue. (What's in between) Thought forms that are

take time, they have depth. In my life I see them as a gift

autonomous, independent, not subject to control from

given to me at a very early age, I've got a long history

outside. A trace, track or a print, or a visible sign left by

with them and they suit me. In some of my paintings

something vanished or lost, "Techno Tribal”.

you may find numbers. They are a part of a simple transfer code very simple and old.

Website: www.thomasbromley.artspan.com