Artist Profile: Tom Rawson

Tom Rawson

4275 Redbud Drive
Wamego, KS 66547

Email the Artist

Bio:

After I retired from K-State, I had time to pursue my photography hobby. The advent of the digital camera allowed me to combine my interests in computing and photography; I quickly became a student again, learning the nuances of digital photography and image processing. I enjoy the challenge of creating photographs that document sights and highlight things that others may have overlooked. My wife and I live near Wamego and spend lots of time traveling the backroads of the Kansas Flint Hills in search of unique and interesting sights to photograph. When making images in the Flint Hills, I try to portray the beauty, scale, and sense of independence and solitude one feels. In addition to these “local” photographs, my portfolio includes landscape and wildlife images from the northern Colorado Rockies where we owned a house for many years. During the pandemic, my wife and I fought cabin fever by taking long drives through the Northeast Kansas Flint Hills. We quickly developed an appreciation for the abandoned one room schoolhouses that still exist in the area and set out to document those of greatest interest. After visiting with the staff of various county historical societies in the area, I decided to publish a book documenting the current condition of fifty of those structures. My book, Pioneer Prairie Learning: 50 One Room Schools in the Kansas Flint Hills, was published late in 2020. I have exhibited my work at the Manhattan Arts Center as well as the Chang Gallery and the Student Union Gallery on the K-State campus and have participated in MAC’s Wrap It Up for many years. My work is currently on display at several locations in the Grand Lake, Colorado, area and can also be seen on my website www.rawsonreflections.com.