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
$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
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
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
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
$1,850
H 27.5 in W 37.5 in D 1.75 in
Lloyd Moylan 1930s Western Watercolor Painting, Horses and Foal, Southwest Art
By Lloyd Moylan
Located in Denver, CO
Immerse yourself in the timeless beauty of the American Southwest with this exceptional vintage watercolor and gouache painting by renowned Western artist Lloyd Moylan (1893–1963). P...
Watercolor, Gouache
Sunset
Located in Zofingen, AG
A blazing red-orange sky stretches above the quiet earth as the golden sun melts into the valley. Below, a shimmering river winds through the landscape, reflecting the last light of ...
Canvas, Acrylic
$1,182
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
$2,998Sale 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
$1,151Sale Price|20% Off
H 14.97 in W 16.15 in D 0.79 in
Contemporary Tropical Balloon Fish Painting Underwater Coral Reef Blue Coastal
By Sofía Cristina Jiménez
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Contemporary tropical fish balloon painting set in an underwater coral reef environment, combining marine imagery with artificial forms in vivid blue, turquoise and pink tones. This...
Linen, Canvas, Acrylic
$2,610
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
$2,590
H 15.75 in W 11.82 in
Silk Flutters in the Woods by Rene Gonzalez - forest landscape with butterflies
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
$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
"Iguana-moth" Original Oil Painting of Mythical Creature
By Robin Hextrum
Located in Denver, CO
Robin Hextrum's (US based) "Iguana-moth" is a colorful oil painting that depicts a mythical iguana/moth. Artist Statement: This painting is from part of my "Magical Realism" series...
Linen, Oil, Wood Panel
$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
$1,919
H 8.86 in W 8.27 in
Goats and Sheep in Various Poses, Cairo (c. 1871)
Located in Stockholm, SE
This study presents multiple views of goats and sheep drawn across a single sheet. Lundgren depicts the animals in different poses – a light-colored goat standing in profile, a dark ...
Paper, Watercolor
$16,200
H 36 in W 48 in
After the Storm - Original Contemporary Surrealist Bird Oceanscape Painting
By Jeff Faust
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Jeff Faust draws from the rich tradition of highly illusionistic canvases, where the eye perceives a sophisticated depth. Faust's ability to blend the ordinary with a touch of the ex...
Canvas, Acrylic
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