Welcome to the website of contemporary American artist Thomas Darnell...that's me. I was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1958, and received my painting degree from the University of Texas in Austin. Since 1992 I have painted in  France and traveled in Europe. I am now living in the south of France near the Mediterranean Sea along with my wife Nicole and our children Joseph and Ava, in the same area where Matisse, Picasso and others drew their inspiration.

My landscapes, flower and still life oil paintings have a peaceful, dream-like, photographic quality while the luminous abstract oil paintings have a meditative and vaguely spiritual feel. Whether realistic or non-representational, these canvases capture the illusion of radiant light through a technique which involves multiple layers of transparent oil paints and alkyde resins. My work is influenced by modern painters Gerhart Richter and Ross Bleckner as well as old masters such as Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Perhaps as a result of these influences, these artworks can look either modern or very old depending on their environment.

http://thomasdarnell.blogspot.com