Each month, Split Rock Lighthouse features a selected artist or photographer to display their work in the Photography and Art at the Rock gallery. Artists are selected by Split Rock Lighthouse staff from an applicant pool. March 2025 featured photographer Joe Polecheck, and in the month of April, artist Thomas Anderson’s work will be shown.
“Art is a part of my life that cannot be suppressed. It occupies my mind almost every day. My thoughts and personal experiences blend to generate different levels of enthusiasm. As a result, my work is exciting for me,” Thomas Anderson shared in an artist statement. A resident of Virginia, Minnesota, he lives there with his wife, Koni.
“When I create a work of art, I visualize images that make me think of the past and moments I’ve experienced throughout my life. These concepts come from observing life and what is familiar to me. Actually, ideas often develop from daydreaming! You would be surprised of how many sources in which an artist taps into,” he continued.
Anderson strives to deliver “a measure of nostalgia” in his work, showing an idealized version of life and telling a story in the picture. “I want my work to trigger a memory from the past. Touching one’s emotions is considered an accomplishment for me.”
Colored pencil mixed with graphite is Anderson’s medium of choice, and the colored pencils he uses range from “pencils from a school boy’s pencil box to a professional artist’s collection”. Pencil affords Anderson a measure of control in his art that he appreciates. When laying out a piece, he uses a vignette style of scene layout, because “the configuration focuses on what is important in the scene.”
Published in places including the Huffington Post, Dakota Country Magazine, Cabela’s Magazine, Boundary Waters Journal, Cabin Life Magazine, Minnesota Out-of Doors Magazine, Fur-Fish and Game Magazine, and PuzzleTwist Jigsaw Puzzles, the gallery display at Split Rock Lighthouse will give locals and tourists alike to see the detailed work of Thomas Anderson.
Other artists are slated for the months through October: Jill Beim, Jeffery Benson, Ryan Tischer, Eric Kelpinger, Mark Ellis, and Shelley Getten, respectively. Thomas Anderson’s art can be viewed online at www.thomasandersonfineart.com/contact, www.instagram.com/thomas.anderson.fineart, and www.redbubble.com/people/thomasanderson4.
