About the Artist

Tom Crews is a painting artist residing on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. His passion for wildlife and nature was honed throughout his career as a forester and wildland firefighter travelling across the United States.

Wildlife has always held a special place in Tom’s heart since childhood. Growing up in central North Carolina, he was constantly pouring over wildlife illustrations and photographs in various books and magazines. Fall and winter seasons during his high school years would find him roaming the fields, rivers, forests and farmsteads around his home in Harnett County in pursuit of waterfowl and bobwhite quail. In warmer months he would fish in nearby rivers and ponds and at the sounds and ocean along the North Carolina Coast.  

As a forestry student at NC State University, Tom developed an avid interest in managing natural landscapes to benefit wildlife habitat. Following graduation, Tom was fortunate to have spent most of his career with the US Forest Service and then US Fish and Wildlife Service pursuing this dream.  

Upon retirement, Tom discovered a new love for the painting arts. Using the mediums of acrylics, oils and watercolors, he enjoys painting wildlife and landscapes as well as figures and portraits of both people and their pets. Being an enthusiastic outdoorsman and avid fisherman, he is always keeping an eye out for the subject of a new painting. From early morning sunrises over the ocean to evening sunsets across the sounds, nature provides endless opportunities for expressing his love through representational art.