Studio Visit: Tom Slaughter

Tom's delightful children's books bring sophisticated modern art to children. Here are some pages from his amazing book, "Eats."

This is Tom.

This is Tom's studio. His bright, white loft looks a little like a Soho art gallery.

 Tom's art is everywhere. Framed ...

and unframed...

 Here are two wallpapers Tom designed.

Tom's desk displays favorite artwork, children's books, a print of his flip-flops, a photo of his daughter's great dive into the water, his monkey...

This bookcase displays Tom's painting of a hat, and a portrait of his hero, artist David Hockney...

Tom creates the brochures and posters for the New Victory Children's Theater. He keeps them carefully organized in large map drawers, like this...

Here is a billboard with Tom's art, advertising the New Victory Children's Theater.

Tom's children's books are filled with gorgeous modern art for children. They can be found (where else?) at the Museum of Modern Art.

This is Tom's ABC book in 3 languages...

Here are two of the pages...

This is Tom's special fold-out book...

This is Tom's new book "Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow?" The book asks fun questions like, "If a duckling grows to become a duck, can a car grow to become a truck??" 

Tom often works with paper cut outs. He paints his own papers.

Tom likes to paint. He finds beauty in the simplest things...

...in a pair of sunglasses...

...in a sailboat in the wind...

...in a sneaker...

...in a bicycle.

During the summer, Tom likes to paint watercolors...

This is Tom's watercolor paintbox...

Tom is a passionate photographer. He always has his camera nearby, ready to snap new pictures that will inspire his art.

Tom's art was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art PS 1. You can visit Tom's website at:

TomSlaughter.com

Tom's Project for you.

Create an ABC book using your pictures. Draw this page and print it 26 times, one page for each of the 26 letters of the alphabet. Draw, or paint, or cut shapes out of paper. 

Tom did this one. I'm sure you can do one or two letters a day. How long will it take you to complete the book? Staple the pages together, and you will have an ABC book.

Tom Slaughter

Tom Slaughter: American. (B 1955) was born in New York City, where he now lives and works. He has had more than 30 solo exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Vancouver, Germany, and Japan. He is a printmaker. His prints are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He has published over seven children's books. They have been translated into five languages.