An Artist's View of Moorestown

Moorestown watercolor artist Tom Finley goes about his work with the intensity of a man making up for lost time.  

After 40 years teaching at Philadelphia public schools, Finley, 69, found time to devote to his art when he retired seven years ago, and now he has put together his first public exhibition, on display at through the end of June.

Finley, a Moorestown resident for 24 years, chose his subjects with an artist’s eye for the dramatic play of light and shadow, but also decided to depict scenes that people would recognize as “typically Moorestown,” he said.

Among the 10 paintings are the , backlit by the winter sun;  blanketed with fresh snow; the abandoned stone building on Swede Run fields; the Third Street train station, brightened by fiery autumn foliage, and a depiction of the library itself.

Finley has received several awards from , where he has been a student since 2004, and last year he won an award from the Garden State Watercolor Society at the Ellarslie Juried Art Show in Trenton.

“Tom is captivated by the medium and works very hard at it,” said professional artist Bob Sakson, an advanced watercolor instructor at Perkins. Sakson sees the exhibit as a major step for his student.

“I’m quite proud of him. He’s doing very well,” said Sakson. “I hope he sells some.”

The paintings are for sale, but about half are already spoken for, Finley said.

Finley grew up in North Philadelphia, where both his parents worked at creative jobs. His father, Tom, had a custom upholstery shop, and his mother, Lillian, hand-painted ceramic lamps.

Finley, who has a master’s degree in anthropology from Temple, was always interested in art. As a young teacher in the '60s and '70s he took night classes at Temple’s Tyler School of the Arts and at the Fleischer Art Memorial in South Philadelphia. But his art education gave way to the demands of teaching science at Bodine High School, coaching basketball and volleyball, and raising his two sons, Matthew and Tim.

After retiring, he began taking classes at Perkins. The experience was humbling.

“I could see from the beginning that I was a real novice,” said Finley. His breakthrough came two years later when he started working with Sakson, who teaches painting en plein air, a French phrase that means in open air, or on location. Finley often called his instructor between sessions and they went out painting together at sites across New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

All 10 paintings at the library were created specifically for the exhibit during the fall and winter of 2010 through 2011, Finley said.

Finley lives on North Riding Road with his wife, Arline, a retired school counselor. He has three grandchildren.