(Continued...)
This helped Tom unravel the creativity he uses for his work from the creativity he uses for his art. Still he is limited by certain restraints. “You may have noticed how all of my work is monochrome,” he says. “That’s because I never get time to work in the natural light. It is all done at night and from quick sketches.”

The HQ Gallery exhibition is in fact, two separate bodies of work. Apart from the opera sketches there are some London scenes, worked on canvas, which show a different side of the artist. “They are from sketches I made when I was in the capital on business,” he said. “I wanted to catch the over familiar again - and make it my own.”

One canvas shows two rough-looking guys on a Roman bench in The British Museum. It’s titled ‘Two Guys and a Goddess’ but in fact the shape their bodies are making has more elegance than the Greek statue next to them. This work is moving more towards idea art, closer to Tom’s opposite creative pole. “My work will certainly move in that direction,” he says, “as I feel more comfortable with my visual language and develop it. It’s all still early days.” AL