Painter Thomas Swanston captures the life-changing experience of observing a natural migration. When the Atlanta-based painter witnessed flocks of birds in the sky over his farm one day, he became fascinated with Sandhill cranes, an interest which would change the trajectory of his art.
Swanston began annual trips to the Central Platte River Valley in Nebraska to photograph and observe the over 600,000 birds that migrate through the area. Swanston witnessed how the birds’ travels are rhythmic, with a pattern of departure and return, and are part of the natural flow of the planet.
Drawing on these first-hand experiences, he depicts the cranes through a host of media and techniques. He uses materials ranging from gold leaf, silver and pewter to oxidized copper, palladium and gouache. The gilding allows his paintings to change according to the light.
A 1978 graduate from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Swanston complemented his Bachelor of Arts degree with studies at the New York Studio School. After enrolling in 1980, he became one of the first to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Parsons School of Design and met his wife and fellow artist, Gail Foster. Together, they now run their own art center, StudioSwan.
Swanston later attended AIR Serenbe, a nonprofit that connects individuals to nature. He played a major role in founding its art program, which continues to support artists today.
Swanston has exhibited his work in numerous solo and group shows. His art is in private collections around the world, including Ritz-Carlton hotels in the United Arab Emirates, Japan and China and Four Seasons hotels in California, Wyoming and Morocco.
Swanston and his wife continue to share their passions for art and nature from their studios in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of Thomas Swanston’s paintings and mixed media.
"Migration of Silver Geece" Large Painting of Birds and Trees with Gold Leaf
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Austin, TX
Mixed Media on Canvas 50 x 56 in. A stunningly beautiful painting that portrays the grace and wild beauty of migrating geese with a combination of naturalistic subject matter and ab...
Gold Leaf
Fugue Triptych
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting. Please note that given the characteristics of the silver and gold leafing the work will photogr...
Gold Leaf
Sunset Glow
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting. Please note that given the characteristics of the silver and gold leafing the work will photogr...
Gold Leaf
$3,900
Farewell
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting. Please note that given the characteristics of the silver and gold leafing the works will photograph and look different under various types of light. Using gilded shapes intertwined with abstract washes of color and light, Swanston creates paintings that visually evolve and transform in conjunction with the natural light of a passing day. He brings the beauty of nature into the home and captures the idea that art originates not only through personal introspection, but through the contemplation of nature and place. The environment plays a key role in the construction of Swanston’s paintings and guides the context of each work. Underneath the gold leaf and acrylic paint lies a deeper conversation about species preservation and habitat loss, both conservation efforts important to the artist. Swanston utilizes beauty as the vehicle by which he entices the viewer and provides the bridge for a critical discussion about environmental protection. Thomas Swanston was born 1956 in Annapolis Md...
Gold Leaf
Deep into Twilight
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Bozeman, MT
Thomas Swanston was born 1956 in Annapolis Md., Naval Hospital. He graduated from Hobart & William Smith Colleges 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts, with studi...
Gold, Silver
$13,000
Maybe One Day
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting. Please note that given the characteristics of the silver and gold leafing the work will photogr...
Gold Leaf
A Glimmer of Green Hope
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting. Please note that given the characteristics of the silver and gold leafing the work will photogr...
Gold Leaf
Up in Blue
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Bozeman, MT
It is a tall, vertical painting. The mixed media is composed of oil paint and gold leaf with smaller silver leaf birds at the bottom of the composition. The bird silhouettes look lik...
Gold Leaf
$1,850
H 27.5 in W 37.5 in D 1.75 in
Lloyd Moylan 1930s Western Watercolor Horses & Foal Southwest Landscape
By Lloyd Moylan
Located in Denver, CO
A charming 1930s Western watercolor painting by American artist Lloyd Moylan, depicting a tender scene of horses and a foal set within a softly rendered Southwestern landscape. This...
Watercolor, Gouache
$21,000
H 17 in W 22 in
Summertime - Martha's Vineyard - Sunset Golden Sky and Red Lighthouse
By Millard Sheets
Located in Miami, FL
Summertime in Martha's Vineyard is drenched in saturated yellows and reds. People in the foreground look out to the sea. Two people on horseback are masterfully rendered in a loose ...
Watercolor, Board, Pencil
With Girls on a Random Friday Night
Located in Zofingen, AG
With Girls on a Random Friday Night is about the quiet rituals that keep us close to ourselves and to each other. In a world obsessed with productivity, comparison, and always moving...
Canvas, Acrylic
$920Sale Price|20% Off
H 9.75 in W 8.82 in D 0.75 in
Antique English Watercolor - Countryside Landscape with Cows
Located in Soquel, CA
Antique English Watercolor - Countryside Landscape with Cows Miniature landscape with two cows in the foreground, signed "J.M. Myall 1910." One cow sits on the ground of a rolling h...
Paper, Watercolor
$1,170
H 31.5 in W 27.56 in D 0.79 in
Golden Rain. Series "Vibrations of the Earth"
Located in Zofingen, AG
"Golden Rain" is a celebratory allegory of fertility, light, and the joyful interconnectedness of nature. Two birds, like colorful guardians of the Tree of Life, meet at the heart of...
Canvas, Acrylic
$2,607
H 9.06 in W 13.39 in D 0.99 in
Travellers With Camels At Sundown Near Pyramids American Orientalist Watercolor
By Edwin Lord Weeks
Located in Sutton Poyntz, Dorset
Edwin Lord Weeks. American ( b.1849 - d.1903 ). Travellers By A River Nile Tributary At Sundown. Watercolor On Paper. Monogram Lower Left. Image size 6.7 inches x 11 inches ( 17cm x...
Paper, Watercolor
$1,170
H 27.56 in W 31.5 in D 0.79 in
Green Apples. Series "Vibrations of the Earth"
Located in Zofingen, AG
In "Evening Song," everything breathes with the warmth of day's end — a gentle light that envelops nature just before nightfall. Two birds, perched among fiery red and golden foliage...
Canvas, Acrylic
$2,967Sale Price|20% Off
H 27.56 in W 27.56 in D 1.58 in
Unicorn Painting Floating in Blue Sky Clouds Contemporary Fantasy Wall Art
By Sofía Cristina Jiménez
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Contemporary unicorn painting featuring an inflatable balloon-like figure floating among clouds in a vivid blue sky, combining fantasy imagery with at...
Canvas, Linen, Acrylic
$949Sale Price|20% Off
H 14.97 in W 16.15 in D 0.79 in
Contemporary Tropical Fish Painting With Coral Reef and Deep Blue Sea
By Sofía Cristina Jiménez
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Blue tropical fish painting surrounded by coral reef forms and deep underwater tones, combining contemporary marine imagery with vivid color contrasts and reflective surfaces. This ...
Linen, Canvas, Acrylic
$12,500
H 36 in W 36 in
Panthers in Jungle Oil Painting Surrealist Art Gustavo Novoa Green Dark Mirror
By Gustavo Novoa
Located in Surfside, FL
Gustavo Novoa (Chilean, born 1941) Original Oil Painting on Masonite (that was how it was catalogued at Doyle. It might be acrylic paint) Green Dark Mirror Hand signed G Novoa lower...
Canvas, Acrylic
The Harvest of One's Path
Located in Zofingen, AG
The painting “The Harvest of One's Path," part of the series “Canvases of the Inner Master," is a rich symbolic narrative celebrating the culmination of personal growth. This artwork...
Canvas, Acrylic
$850
H 15 in W 18 in D 1 in
Original Mid-Century Red Farmhouse Watercolor Landscape Painting
By Thelma Fike Rodehorst
Located in Soquel, CA
Original Mid-Century Red Farmhouse Watercolor Landscape Painting Beautiful mid-century 1940's watercolor of a bucolic farmhouse scene - sunset, undul...
Watercolor, Laid Paper
Through the Clear Afternoon Sky
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting. Please note that given the characteristics of the silver and gold leafing the work will photogr...
Gold Leaf
Returning Progress
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting. Please note that given the characteristics of the silver and gold leafing the work will photogr...
Gold Leaf
The Fog of Time
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting. Please note that given the characteristics of the silver and gold leafing the work will photogr...
Gold Leaf
Fullness
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting. Please note that given the characteristics of the silver leafing the works will photograph and ...
Gold Leaf
Morning Vapor
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Bozeman, MT
Thomas Swanston was born 1956 in Annapolis Md., Naval Hospital. He graduated from Hobart & William Smith Colleges 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts, with studies in London and at the Stud...
Linen, Mixed Media
Going to the Edge of the World Again
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Bozeman, MT
This painting is rich in texture. Golden, rusted and silver geese fly along the gritty blue, turquoise sky. Deep cerulean blue tree tops stand in the foreground. Thomas Swanston was...
Mixed Media
Coming In
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Bozeman, MT
This is a square painting with a stunning sunset on it. The sky starts as a deep blue and fades into yellows, oranges, and pinks until the sky touches a purple mountain range. Geese ...
Mixed Media
Sweet Morning Light
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Bozeman, MT
It is a tall, vertical painting. The painting's medium is acrylic paint and silver leaf on linen. The birds' silver silhouettes fly across the dream acrylic background. Thomas Swans...
Silver
Through and above Farmland I & II
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Bozeman, MT
This is a diptych painting. The painting's composition is birds flying across the two panels on a a blue-gray background. You can see faint traces of gold underneath the oil paint. T...
Silver, Gold Leaf
Deja Through
By Thomas Swanston
Located in Bozeman, MT
This a stylized bird painting created through materials and silhouetted birds in the composition. The birds fly through a gray background, but the birds them selves are actually gold...
Silver, Gold Leaf