"Harpeth at Fulton Greer Park" 11x14 Oil by Tommy Thompson
A Valentine gift of fine art is a gift that will be be enjoyed every day and handed down for generations. A gift of original fine art gives pleasure to the recipient every day, not just on Valentine’s Day, and it increases in value over time. To make your Valentine shopping a unique experience, visit Belle Meade Plantation Art Gallery, 5025 Harding Pike, Nashville, TN, where a special exhibition of oils and pastels by Tommy Thompson and Michelle Rideout is being displayed for sale until February 28, 2010. The Gallery’s hours are: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. As an added bonus to your Valentine shopping experience, one-half of the purchase price of your gift will be tax deductible since the Plantation is a nonprofit organization.
When you visit Belle Meade Plantation Art Gallery to see the Thompson/Rideout Art Exhibit, why not have lunch or dinner upstairs in the Belle Restaurant (http://www.bellerestaurant.com), where you can view Thompson’s beautiful oil painting of the Belle Meade Mansion. This painting is also for sale by the Belle Meade Plantation Gift Shop (downstairs).
After several years as a commercial and architectural illustrator, Thompson moved on to traditional oil painting in 2002. Since that time, the artist has painted onsite throughout the country. With other artists and friends, he has painted on location not only in Alabama but also in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wyoming, plus Canada. His artwork has been featured in national publications including American Art Collector, Southwest Art, Horses in Art; in regional publications like Hills and Hamlets and Greater Nashville House, Home, and Garden; and in Nashville area newspapers, The Tennessean and Brentwood Life. His work has been featured online by Area of Design--In the Spotlight, The Judge's Choice, The Journal of 100 Miles (Natchez Trace), Discovered Artists, Painter's Keys, Chestnut Group, Plein Air Artists, Landscape Artists International, and Oil Painters of America. Thompson’s artwork was recently juried into a special exhibition called “Saving Paradise” of Belmont University’s Leu Gallery, September 1-December 2, 2010. For more information on Thompson’s work, check out his web site at www.tommythompsonart.com
"Biltmore Goose," 11x14 Pastel, by Michelle Rideout
After graduating with a degree in graphic design from the University of North Alabama, Rideout worked for several years for Village Prints (www.villageprints.com), creating hundreds of architectural-style composite pencil drawings of towns across 12 Southern states. After moving to Tennessee, she studied with some of the country's top artists including Carolyn Wright of Chattanooga, TN; Jason Saunders, Leiper's Fork, TN; Dawn Whitelaw, Pat Thompson, and Roger Dale Brown of Franklin, TN; Jeremy Doss of Townsend, TN; and Jeanne Mackenzie of Colorado. Besides painting on location at various Nashville area sites with her father, Rideout also enjoys painting with friends in Nashville's Chestnut Group, "plein air painters for the land." For more information on Rideout’s work, check out her web site at www.michellerideout.com
