23-Aug-2010 19:45
By Bruce Hopkins
I played music in this weeks show from a very talented man, Tom Mutch. Tom is an incredible artist, painter, sculptor writer, musician. One of his early mentors was Michael Smithers.
He has written 3 books and is one of those rare beings who makes a living doing what he loves. His latest album is called Tom Sawyer, Take the Lift. It features some of his music from his previous two albums and also a number of new tracks. Tom plays all the instruments, guitar, flute, keyboards...the guy is talented. I have had the pleasure of sitting on the porch at his house listening to him play the guitar and sing, it is enchanting stuff.
He has never got stuck in one style of art and when issues need to be expressed he gets stuck into it. His series of works depicting the US Gulf war machine were powerful images.
Early on Tom made the decision to be independent of the gallery system and for many years he has hosted his own exhibition at his property in Kuaotunu, inviting artists whose work he respected to exhibit with him. These have always been wonderful events. There are a number of people around who are passionate collectors of Toms work.
Check his work out at www.tommutch.com. He's also an avid body surfer.