Tom Wells' Biography Born in Baltimore Maryland in 1945, the first artist in Tom Wells' life was his grandmother, Adelaide Reardon Wells. Her home in Bethesda Maryland was a quiet haven with books about drawing and relics and artifacts of a bygone age. Childhood visits there were sacred explorations of these treasures. Later he took drawing classes, first at the Baltimore Museum of Art and then other such opportunities, both institutional and private. During a two year residence in Japan in the mid 60's Wells studied oil painting through private lessons. But the medium, he felt, lacked sufficient challenge and so he turned his studies to the traditional Japanese calligraphy and sumi-e. The confidence aquired from these disciplines launched him into a twenty year span of painting in watercolors with sell out shows and critical acclaim. But his crusade in art was not to "settle down" with these laurels. He went on to conquer and produce in other mediums, most notably sandblasted glass, in which he executed several highly complex mural commissions in hotels and restaurants in Washington, DC and Manhattan. In the early 90's Wells broke ranks with commercial gift giving at Christmas and began making tree ornaments as gifts. This annual tradition was the awakening of an intrinsic aspect of his nature that had lay dorment throughout his life--a fascination and communion with objects. These early assemblages became the forerunners of his found object assemblages which he now proclaims as his most significant life statement. The process begins with the "harvesting" of objects from the environment. "Selection of an object," Wells states, "is based on subtle qualities imbued in the object by its creator(s), be it in nature or man made". His studio is a treasure trove of these selections. An assemblage composition occasionally comes in an instantaneous flash, but more often it is a "slow brew" process of weeks and sometimes months. "This work", he states, "is an exploration into and celebration of infinity." A show review in the Baltimore Press by Fletcher Schwing stated, "He is not caught in metaphor nor swayed by whimsy. The works are solid, real, and have a feeling of permanence as well as a spiritual quality. This is in part due to his high level of craftsmanship coupled with his innate respect for the materials." Recently, Michael Monroe, former curator-in-charge of the Smithsonian Instituion's Renwick Gallery, formally critiqued Wells' work and responded with these statments- "You have a considerable gift for combining disparate materials into fresh and unexpected compositions. Being simultaneously attracted and repulsed by your choice of found objects, I found that these conflicting responses created a duality and tension which brought a very positive resonance to the work. ...Your pieces gave me the opportunity to continually find new layers of possibilities and meanings inherent in the individual components as well as the whole. I believe that this quality is essential in a work of art and you have successfully achieved it." Wells currently lives and works in an artists' housing cooperative in Baltimore where he also helped found Gallery 1448. Contact: Tom Wells, Studio 3D 1440 E. Baltimore St. Baltimore, Maryland 21231 (410) 522-7953 twells866@juno.com