Tom Hempel, a professional artist, is exhibiting his beautiful watercolors to exhibit in our gallery, to be shown through July 30. The River Arts Center is located at 229-5th Ave. So. in downtown Clinton. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 1-4 PM.
Hempel was born in Chicago, but moved to Bettendorf when in seventh grade. He was moved to advanced art classes at Bettendorf High School where he developed an interest in watercolors, encouraged by his art teacher, Don Posten. He then served in the Army, spending one year in Vietnam as a construction engineer. He resumed his art training at Palmer Junior College, laid down his brushes for eleven years and married Marti Carstensen in 1975. She rekindled his love of watercolors by asking him to do a painting of Boyler’s Iron Works in Davenport. Having that painting framed led to his first sale when a gentleman saw it and offered to buy it, then asking Tom to paint his own house.
Other offers followed which kept him busy alongside his regular employment at Case Company.
Since retiring, he has been able to devote all of his time to honing his skills as a watercolor artist, painting homes here and abroad as well as landscapes, some from his own imagination. He has received the People’s Choice Awards at various art fairs, including Riverssance, Beaux Arts Fair, and the Rock Island Art Guild. In 2019 he became a member of the Iowa Watercolor Society and has had his paintings selected for the IWS Traveling Show.
