Anyone who has tried painting with watercolor knows why it is a notoriously difficult medium. Its transparency allows every movement of the brush to remain visible in the finished work. Attempts to refine or cover up mistrokes end up looking fussy, or worse. That same transparency, though, is the very quality that gives watercolors the immediacy and brilliance that make them irresistible. They are literally lit from within. Realizing the potential of watercolor involves taking chances. The best watercolors feel right because the paint has been given room to assert its fluid nature.

Tom Hoffmann has been working with watercolor for more than thirty years. The fascination began in Carl Schmalz’s class at Amherst College, where he first experienced the rewards of going out on a limb. Since then, he has carried a watercolor kit up mountains and down urban alleys, painting from life to get to know the spirit of each place.

Tom’s paintings are about specific places and particular moments. They are also about the paint and the brushstrokes themselves. There is a dynamic between the subject and the form that is the life of a good painting. Watercolor rewards an economy of means. When an artist knows the subject and the medium well enough to say a lot and make it look easy, the viewer is invited to participate in the experience. Tom Hoffmann’s watercolors meet the challenge of the medium with confidence and vigor.

Tom’s dedication to transparent watercolor takes two forms: painting from life and teaching his craft. Each is informed by the other. Painters never stop working to improve their skills and their understanding of their chosen medium. For thirty years Tom’s paintings have grown steadily bolder and more expressive of the spirit of their subjects. Because of his love of teaching he has also been determined to articulate the lessons he has learned from experience.

The risks that are such an important part of watercolor can be understood in terms of specific variables. They are informed risks. Knowing how to see what is essential to a particular scene involves skills that can be isolated and practiced. Tom’s private students and workshop participants make rapid progress as they benefit from his unique blend of passionate involvement and articulate analysis.