Tom Maakestad

Tom Maakestad was raised in rural Northfield, Minnesota in a family of
artists and a neighborhood of farmers. Both have been equally important
influences in his life. He received his art education at Luther College in
Decorah, Iowa. Since then his main concentration has been on producing
landscapes from his native Midwest where he travels and works extensively.
Maakestad and his family now reside in Marine on St. Croix, MN.

"My initial art training in school taught a rapid summation of the subject
often through gestural drawings. In response to that initial study I have
employed an editorial approach which limits detail to a level which supports
the subject but does not detract from the final work. The danger is in
becoming too detailed and hence losing the spirit of the work. The main
subject be it a road, a river or a shadow that seductively leads the
viewer¹s eye into the landscape, is where we can visually understand the
terrain and take in the event we are experiencing outdoors. I've been told
that many of my works have a palpable loneliness < bare fields dotted with
sheds and barns, hinting at an unseen human presence. It could be a road
that cuts through the middle of the land which forces the farmer to go back
and forth, or the fences that need repair so you imagine the cows escaping
onto the road. Often it¹s the narrative behind the landscape which draws me
in to the space. Behind a discussion of subject and process should be an
emotional force which initially propels the artist to work on a given piece.
Emotion consolidates memory and forms this response to the visual
experience."