Thomas Jewell-Vitale

From a distance, Thomas Jewell-Vitale's abstract works do not seem abstract. Harmonious colors and soft textures invite the viewer with a sense of familiarity and comfort. Close up, the viewer studies the images expecting to see something more apparent. One feels, indeed, that something is there, only thinly concealed and slightly below the surface, waiting to be known. Thomas writes: "I make paintings in which shapes are tied intimately to their surroundings...Their edges are not fixed boundaries, but fingers which probe, revealing a myriad of allegiances: hiding, nestling, isolated, adrift, consumed..." Thomas Jewell-Vitale, Professor of Art at Loras College in Dubuque, returned to his Alma Mater in 1976 almost a decade after leaving: first to pursue religious studies at Gregorian University in Rome, then to study figure drawing at Academie der Bildenden Kunste in Vienna, and finally to take a BA and MA in Studio Art from the University of California at Berkley. In 1995, he took a sabbatical post as Professor of English at Eichi University in Amagasaki, Japan. Jewell-Vitale's art evolves from and certainly adapts to a wide variety of local and international settings. A number of published articles and reviews refer to his work, which hangs in major Institutional collections in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Aurora, Evanston, Cincinnati, Dayton, Milwaukee, Madison, St. Paul, as well as in Des Moines, Dubuque, and many other smaller cities. Many of Thomas Jewell-Vitale's works also hang in private collections.