Artist Statement & Résumé

Tommy B. McDonell, Ph.D.

I was always interested in art and took many college trips in Italy and Greece with Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri where I received my BA. At New York University I studied Interactive Telecommunications for an MPS and created interactive work about art for kids and a kiosk about Edward Hopper. After my Ph.D. (also from NYU) in TESOL, I took a watercolor class for fun in 2007. I then moved to Pinehurst, NC in 2008.

All that we do as individuals, I believe, turn us into the writers, artists, photographers, crafters, and musicians we become. I have often remarked on my past lives. Whether it was my college trips, my art history classes, teaching high school, running a pizza business or so so much more (see my resume), everything made me who I am. And my MS, changes who I am as an artist, in leaps and bounds.

Diagnosed in 1995, I couldn't teach by 2010. MS changed me: how I think, talk, read, and now how I paint, and how I put my art together. In 2009 I felt better when I painted. During this time period until about 2011, I only did only one type of art. I grew bored and began to learn different ways to do art. My MS made it so I couldn't feel my hands and I had to use sponges to paint.

From 2012 until the end of 2022 I painted almost every single day, and my artwork changed and I grew as an artist. I was in an art show, won awards, and was featured in online art shows. And then I hit a wall, so to speak.

It is now June and similar to the music I play in my reels "Where Do We Go" (STRLGHT Epidcmic Sound), I am now unsure about both my art and about me. I am in the process of moving to New York City. This involves both selling and buying a place to live. And it also involves deciding wha to do with and about my art.

I hope to kick this MS somewhere, perhaps paint a purple and teal box over it. Stay tuned.

June 11, 2023