It’s not unusual for an artist to carefully navigate the delicate balance between the pull of creative inspiration and the demands of day to day life; sometimes having to set aside their art and switch their focus to the time and energy required to nurture relationships, meet responsibilities, and honor the everyday moments that define the rhythms of life. Such is the story of artist Thomas Hoffmann.

Hoffmann grew up outside of Washington, D.C. with parents who would take him, along with his cousins, to eagerly jaunt through the elaborate museums in the city. Hoffmann recalls that after years of trips where he was probably blissfully unaware of the masterpieces around him, one day it suddenly clicked—and he became aware that these weren’t simply colorful distractions, but pieces that drew his attention and left him wanting to learn more. Hoffmann attended the Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied illustration, but after a few years of freelance work following graduation, he still felt a deeper creative pull. This led him to return to school, pursuing further growth at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design where he earned a master’s degree. He recalls, “It’s the peer group that is really wonderful—you’re working amongst these other people constantly and it’s just a great experience.”

But time moves swiftly, and maybe a bit like the lyrics in “Don’t Blink” by Kenny Chesney, “Don’t blink, ‘cause just like that you’re six years old and you take a nap, you wake up and you’re twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife,” so too did Hoffmann’s life. He actually did marry his high school sweetheart and together they had two children, and though he was still expressing his creativity, he became a self-taught graphic artist who founded a desktop publishing and informational display design company. He recalls, “I liked it because I was making stuff all the time and creating, but I got away from all those artistic pursuits for several years, working 60-65 hours a week. I had to just promise myself that I would get back to it. I was engaged with all these other things—happily raising kids and getting a lot out of my other pursuits.”  

The Hoffmanns, who were living in a Boston suburb, had purchased a home on Cape Cod with the eventual plan of it becoming their permanent residence once their children had finished high school, but COVID altered their plan—which actually proved to be a boon to Hoffman’s art career. “COVID was the push that got us here full time and helped accelerate my artwork. I sold my company and stopped working my full time corporate job and now I consult part time. I’m able to pursue my art more earnestly now that we live here,” the artist shares. 

A charming cottage studio in his yard serves as a peaceful retreat where he paints, mostly using oils and canvas, channeling the creative energy often sparked by his morning walks, during which he draws inspiration from the soft early sunlight. Much of his work is landscape and natural scenery, but it’s also figures that inspire him. He says, “It was after a few years of being here before Cape Cod started entering into the paintings that I was making—like an unconscious thing that I was processing in the back of my head. And for me, it’s repetition—I may walk past something 20 times, but on the 21st time, something about the light or the clouds will strike me. Maybe at that time I have an emotional attachment to the thing and then I suddenly see it differently.” From time to time, he wrestles with deeper questions and his own inner critic, yet, in the end, he finds himself much like the carefree child who visited museums years ago, captivated by the art on the walls. He says simply, “I just love doing it. I like to muck around with paint colors and brushes and I need to just let it be that.”  

Thomas Hoffman’s work can be found at the Readymade Gallery and Trove Art Gallery & Boutique both in Orleans as well as online at tmhoffmann.com.