Syracuse.com - Lyncourt artist catches wildlife on canvas

HuntingNY-News · March 30, 2012

"Most of my recent stuff has been Adirondack-themed," Lenweaver said. His recent portrayal of an Adirondack moose in a painting titled "Backwater Morning," won the outstanding painting award at the 55th Annual Central Adirondack Art Show in Old Forge.

David Lassman/The Post-StandardTom Lenweaver works on a painting in his studio at his home.

By Jon Krouner

Contributing writer

For years, wildlife artist Tom Lenweaver’s forte has been painting fish and fowl.

Standard’s “Fishing Guide” and the New York State Freshwater Fishing Regulations manual. He also donates his paintings of ducks, pheasants and other birds to benefit such groups as the Central New York Wild Fowlers, Ducks Unlimited and the Great Swamp Conservancy in Lenox.

His recent portrayal of an Adirondack moose in a painting titled “Backwater Morning” won the outstanding painting award at the 55th Annual Central Adirondack Art Show in Old Forge. The painting reflects a change in his focus.

“Most of my recent stuff has been Adirondack-themed,” Lenweaver said.

Lenweaver, 66, is a lifelong Syracuse resident and self-taught artist.

After graduating from Solvay High School, he chose not to attend college. He landed a job in a printer’s art department, a position that launched his career as a commercial artist.

By 1990, Lenweaver was managing a staff of employees at his own commercial art company. He said he found himself in desperate need of a diversion from the daily monotony.

“It just got to be such a rat race,” Lenweaver said. “At five o’clock everyone would leave and I’m stuck there picking up the pieces. ... And the next day we’d start all over again.”

Working into the night, Lenweaver began to paint water colors rather than focus on the business at hand.

“Instead of lining up the ducks for the next day’s production, I said, ‘I’ll sit here for an hour or two and paint,’” Lenweaver said.

His new hobby coincided with the birth of his granddaughter, Margo.

“Maybe it was the fact that I was now a grandfather and my responsibilities changed,” Lenweaver said. “But I’ve just got to do something different before I go nuts.”

David Lassman/The Post-StandardThis painting, titled “Reflections on Owl Pond,” was done by Tom Lenweaver, who also made the Adirondack-style frame.

After a few months of painting in his office after hours, Lenweaver turned to Lou DePaolis, a friend and well-known local wildlife artist, for his opinion.

DePaolis, who died in September, was impressed with his friend’s work. To have the approval of DePaolis “made me feel like a million bucks,” Lenweaver said.

DePaolis acted as Lenweaver’s mentor and continues to influence his work.

“I’ll be working on a painting and I’ll get to a certain area and I can hear his voice on just what to do,” Lenweaver said.

Lenweaver eventually whittled down his business and transitioned his career to that of a freelance commercial artist.

He is the oldest of four children and credits his parents’ love of hunting, fishing and the outdoors for his love of the outdoors.

“All of this art is dedicated to my parents,” he said. “They introduced me to the wild, to nature and if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t have had the love for animals.”

Lenweaver raised three children in Syracuse and has six grandchildren. Today, he works out of a studio in his Lyncourt home, where he lives with longtime girlfriend, Mary.

His most reproduced images, he said, involve fish. One captures the instant right before a largemouth bass takes the bait and bites into a fisherman’s hook; another shows a trout hungrily seeking its prey.

Lenweaver recently sold a painting of a moose in a serene pond called, “Reflections on Owl Pond,” for $1,800. He carved an original frame out of birch wood for the piece.

He also paints portraits of sporting dogs that cost up to $450 for a fully colored version, or $300 for a pencil drawing.

Lenweaver’s love for wildlife, he said, eventually resulted in him giving up hunting.

“I wouldn’t shoot another animal,” he said.

More on Tom Lenweaver

See his work on birdart.com and adirondacksart.com.

He can be reached by email at [email protected].

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog