Arts Scene: Surreal to Whimsical

In Tommy Simpson’s creations, beds belong to bears and 7-foot-tall flowers tell time.

Admirers have described his art as everything from surreal to whimsical.

“A lot of people say it’s whimsical, but when you start looking at it there’s more in it,” Simpson said of his work.

Simpson’s “Heart, Hand, Home” exhibit is on display at Naples’ Von Liebig Art Center through Feb. 27. A self-described “imaginist” who works in an array of artistic mediums including woodworking, painting, printmaking, clay, woodcarving, bookmaking, textiles, jewelry and prose, Simpson is also known for his mixed-media sculptures made from carved, laminated or wheel-turned wood combined with found objects and hand-brushed colors.

Born in Illinois, Simpson hails from a family with a medical background. Art was a foreign world to him until he took an elective class in college in printmaking. It was then that Simpson “discovered that I was an artist, whether I liked it or not,” he recalled.

Simpson went on to earn a Masters of Fine Art degree at Michigan’s Cranbrook Academy of Art. Fifty years later, he has won numerous awards, written three books and exhibited his artwork around the world, including at Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

Visitors to the Von Liebig’s “Heart, Hand, Home” exhibit can expect to find pieces that are personal, approachable and fun, Simpson said. The 7-foot, time-telling flowers are arranged in a way that suggests a garden, complete with a fence. In each flower’s face is a working clock. Simpson said he has heard the pieces compared to something out of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

In another piece of work from the “Heart, Hand, Home” show, Simpson has created a bed inspired by the story of Goldilocks and the three bears. The bed is intended to be baby bear’s bed, the one Goldilocks couldn’t resist. But it’s not the only bed in the exhibit: Simpson is also exhibiting a bed carved with the words from a Shaker hymn.

“Some of the pieces are playful, some are more serious,” he said.

Simpson said he enjoys creating functional pieces, such as rugs. The exhibit also showcases several rugs the artist designed and had handcrafted in Nepal.

The artist said he draws on everyday living to find inspiration. In one piece from the show, the words “Friends Melt Chocolate” appear on bench. The idea came to him because sometimes it seems that the cozy warmth of a good friendship could melt chocolate, Simpson explained.

Creating furniture holds a special appeal for Simpson, in part because of the delight it brings those who experience the finished piece. In furniture, it’s often possible for viewers to experience the work on another level, seeing the idea of the piece more effortlessly and clearly, Simpson noted.

“The one thing that I consider important is that you try to bring it to life,” he said of his work.

For more information on “Heart, Hand, Home,” visit www.naplesart.org or call (239) 262-6517. The Von Liebig Art Center is located at 585 Park Street, Naples.

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