Featured Artist: Gordoni

Thomas Gordon Wright uses the name Gordoni name to distinguish his wet on wet paintings of colorful abstracts that have hints of floral elements. He begins his acrylic paintings on a wet canvas by laying in the bright colors and using a water spray bottle to help blend them. Then he creates the background by painting away anything he doesn't want in the piece. In 1947, Tom pursued his dream of success as an opera singer moving his family from New York to Paris, France where a friend got him an audition at the Conservatorie National de Musique, one of the finest music schools in Europe during the 1940s.  Realizing that his name was difficult to pronounce in the French language, he anticipated changing it to Thomaso Gordoni.  After seven years without widespread success as a tenor, Tom returned to the United States and joined forces with Harry Belafonte as a stage manager and traveled the country with a career in show business.   In the mid 1980s Tom began painting under the instruction of Joseph Perrin, Chairman Emeritus of the Georgia Statue University School of Art & Design.  Perrin's instruction allowed Tom to develop his own personal style.  Tom remarks, "He never told me what to do."  Perrin would simply cover up part of the painting and ask "How is it now?"  This approach allowed him to build confidence in his own unique style of work. He adopted the name Gordoni to represent his colorful abstractions and perhaps crystallize on the success he dreamed of in Paris. Tom's love for music comes through in his art.  He hopes that the viewer experiences an emotional reaction that is similar to listening to beautiful music.