MY STORY

Originally from Maine, I am an artist and writer, residing in Western NY with my wife and two boys, 6 and 10. I retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2010 after 22 years of service. I am also the author of the novels, Bleeding the Vein and Forgotten Souls. My short story, "The Eighth Day," received an honorable mention in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, Sixteenth Annual Collection.

I love the outdoors and enjoy fly fishing and tying my own flies (another art altogether). My wife and I recently started hiking the high peaks of New York's Adirondack Mountains (currently ONLY 35 of 46 left to becoming an official ADK 46er...) which has already offered hours of reference photos to place on canvas. I have started a series dedicated to our time in the ADK, apparently working in reverse as the first piece is titled, “Summit” and contains my and my wife’s muddy, wet, and stained boots at the top of one of the high peaks.

I’ve sketched since I was a boy but around 2014, I decided to teach myself to paint following a lengthy binge of episodes from The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. At the time, I had also found some online/DVD lessons from another Maine artist, Tim Gagnon, completing my first pieces of art in acrylic. Fast forward to 2017 and I discovered an amazing oil painting artist in England named, Michael J. Smith. I enrolled in his online courses (amazing!) for about a year and a half and completed about a half dozen lessons and paintings with oils (which I now prefer). Another favorite artist I follow is Chuck Black, an incredible landscape/wildlife artist I have learned so much from with his YouTube videos over the years. 

Through learning from these and other artists and simply trying things at random, I’ve discovered some strengths and weaknesses. As I continue to grow as an artist, my creative mind has always wanted to learn new things, with interests spanning from aviation to Buddhism to the macabre to voice over (stay tuned to see how this turns out) to Zen and everything in between. My years in the Air Force have brought many travels, sights, and experiences, some of which will end up in future pieces. For a short while, I was also an active skydiver (150 jumps before medical reasons halted this fun part of my life) but will live on in future oil paintings. Simply, life is art in itself, and I hope to share mine with you.

I hope you check back often and watch me grow as an artist and share this journey with me. I am always open for valuable critiques of my work, so feel free to drop me a line at tgarsenault@tgarsenault.com. 

Thank you for visiting and reading this far, and if you'd like to receive my newsletter, please subscribe to find out about any new works, events, contests, giveaways, and more.

Commissions are always welcome, so feel free to send me an email for any inquiries.

Sincerely,

Timothy G. Arsenault