Tom Phillips

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A fourth generation native of San Pedro and Palos Verdes Peninsula (PVP), Tom Phillips has a natural empathy for the themes he paints. As a child he spent countless hours with his grandfather, the son of the one of the pioneer ranchers of the Peninsula at the turn of the last century, exploring the terrain of the area and the harbors of San Pedro and Wilmington.

As a youth he was part of the sixties surf culture and revealed a creative nature. He began painting while a high student encouraged by his mentor Barbara McDonald, and an early sale of his work.

He attended Art Center College of Design and participated in numerous juried shows including the National Academy in New York, National Watercolor Society, Watercolor West and San Diego Watercolor Society, and the Disney Artists and Friends of Cal-Arts Exhibition. He has been a member of the National Watercolor Society since 1976.

In the 1980s Phillips had one-man shows in various Southern California locations and his works have been displayed at prestigious galleries and collections in Sedona, Santa Fe, Scottsdale, Jackson Hole, Carmel Palm Desert and elsewhere throughout the United States.

Often working from vintage photographs Phillips has painted memorable historic sites and streets of San Pedro and the PVP in his distinctive "Retro-realist" style capturing a bygone era in a timeless fashion.

Drawing upon his years in the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona he has also created a body of work depicting native Americans in "Neo-naturalism" embracing their spirit in a spectrum of color and texture that tough the heart and mind of the viewer.

In 2004 he was commissioned to create the key art for the first LA Harbor International Film Festival (LAHIFF) poster in a painting entitled "The Cinematic Bridge" and is currently working on the painting for the second annual LAHIFF taking place the last weekend of April 2005 at the historic Warner Grand Theatre.

RE: Chair theme: "The San Pedro Drive-In Lives On!"

"As a kid I used to go the Warner Brothers Saturday matinee, and as a teen-ager I moved on to the drive-in like all the boys (and girls) in town; sneaking your friends in the trunk, maybe even some beer. We usually missed most of the movie! It was a very cool place to be on a Friday or Saturday night, and like so many of our local landmarks it's gone. It just seemed to fit the shaped of the seat."