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.
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
$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
Rolling On Currents 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
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
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
Hear Me Out
By Daria Okhrimenko
Located in Zofingen, AG
Everyone wants to be heard. Some whisper. Some raise their voices. And some simply lift a claw draped in pearls and wait for the room to fall silent. Confidence isn’t always loud. So...
Canvas, Acrylic
In Search of a Cerulean Sweater
By Daria Okhrimenko
Located in Zofingen, AG
In Search of a Cerulean Sweater plays with the idea of difference — of standing side by side while belonging to entirely different worlds. It reflects that quiet, often overlooked st...
Canvas, Acrylic
$8,500
H 40 in W 60 in D 1.5 in
Horses Painting BOHO Heavy Textured on Canvas 40x60" Love Between Horses
By Irena Orlov
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Love Between Horses Couple Painting One of a kind Mixed Medium on Canvas Artwork: Original abstract mixed media work on canvas, which combines new media - digital original hand pain...
Canvas, Varnish, Archival Ink, Acrylic, Mixed Media
$1,127
H 27.56 in W 31.5 in D 0.79 in
Green Apples. Series "Vibrations of the Earth"
By Mariia Voronchak
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
$2,469
H 15.75 in W 11.82 in
Silk Flutters in the Woods by Rene Gonzalez - Forest Landscape with Butterflies
By Rene Gonzalez
Located in Paris, FR
Silk Flutters in the Woods is an acrylic on canvas by artist Rene Gonzalez, portraying butterflies dancing above a water puddle in a spellbinding nocturnal forest. This unique piece'...
Canvas, Acrylic
$695
H 10.63 in W 10.63 in D 2.37 in
Sialia Blue Bird - realist and minimalist animal painting, oil and gold leaf
By Anastasia Gklava
Located in Dallas, TX
"Sialia" is a stunning realist painting depicting a sweet blue bird with orange on his neck, perched on a tree branch. Half the canvas is real gold leaf and the other white, a beauti...
Gold Leaf
$1,100
H 31.5 in W 63 in D 0.4 in
Magical Ecstasy Oil Painting on Canvas, Dreamlike Animals, 80x160 cm
Located in Bogotá, Bogotá
Magical Ecstasy presents a composition in which birds, animals, and human figures coexist within a single pictorial space. The image is organized through fields of color, symbols, an...
Gold Leaf
Pink Weather
By Daria Okhrimenko
Located in Zofingen, AG
Two silhouettes stand steady on the bright yellow field, as if listening to the sky shift above them. The horizon holds its deep blue line, calm and certain, while a burst of pink ri...
Canvas, Acrylic
Resting Magpie
By John Defeo
Located in Bozeman, MT
Johnny Defeo’s work belongs to the concept of souvenir, attempting to capture the experiences he has in the natural world, where he feels free and most at home. His paintings and rug...
Acrylic, Panel
$365
H 7.29 in W 14.57 in D 1.19 in
Little Blue Tit 4 and Little Kingfisher, Over The Moon Diptych, Birds
By Anya Simmons
Located in Deddington, GB
This is a diptych of a new series - Over The Moon with Little British Birds. This Diptych include Little Kingfisher, Over The Moon and Little Blue Tit 4, Over The Moon, We are so bl...
Gold Leaf
$182
H 7.29 in W 7.29 in D 1.19 in
Robin Love 4, Over The Moon, Birds, Animal art, Nature, Gold leaf, Metallic art
By Anya Simmons
Located in Deddington, GB
New Series - Over The Moon with Little British Birds. We are so blessed with such a variety of beautiful garden bird species within the UK. I feel inspired and 'Over The Moon' with ...
Gold Leaf
Chalet at Sweetgrass Ranch
By John Defeo
Located in Bozeman, MT
Johnny Defeo’s work belongs to the concept of souvenir, attempting to capture the experiences he has in the natural world, where he feels free and most at home. His paintings and rug...
Canvas, Acrylic
Orange Sky Migration
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
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