About our cover artist

Thomas Torak was born in Pottstown, PA in 1953 and moved to New York in 1974 to study at the Art Students League. He studied the first year with Robert Beverly Hale and the next seven years with Frank Mason. Under Mason, he learned not only the art of painting but also the craft. He prepares his own canvas, mediums and varnishes and uses only hand ground paint, often grinding the colors himself, a difficult and time-consuming task, abandoned by most contemporary artists, but vital to the quality of his work. The methods and techniques he employs are those of the Old Masters but his paintings are decidedly contemporary. Many of his still lifes contain timeless subject matter such as fruit and flowers, but in others you will find more modern objects such as pizza, comic books or baseball mitts. Walks near his Vermont home or a stroll along the Maine coastline often inspire landscapes. His work can be seen at the Helmholz Fine Art Gallery in Manchester, VT.