About Tom Hale

Tom Hale began his career as an artist at the age of seven when he set his drawing board upon an empty orange crate and began drawing futuristic automobiles. His passion for creating art and drawing cars continued through high school, where he steadily refined his skills. Upon graduating from high school in 1958, Tom joined the U.S. Navy and lived aboard a destroyer for two years. When his tour of duty ended in 1963, Tom enrolled at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Soon after, Tom married his loving wife Micki. Tom's enthusiasm for art and automobiles carried him through college. In 1966, he graduated with honors from the prestigious Art Center College of Design with a degree in transportation design.

In 1966, Tom joined General Motors as a styling designer (his dream come true). After two years at General Motors, Tom spent one year at Chrysler, before moving on to his longtime position of seventeen years at the American Motors Corporation. In 1985, Tom came to the realization that his talent was underutilized and made the decision to leave the auto styling profession to pursue his fine art career on a full-time basis.

Tom's career as an artist has brought him much reward. He has sold more than 3,000 original paintings to clients in the United States and twelve other countries. His work has been commissioned for a total of 65 event posters. Some of Tom's original paintings have been reproduced in limited-edition print. His numerous awards (totaling 362) are punctuated by the Gold Medal of Honor which he received from the American Watercolor Society.

Tom considers every day an opportunity to create his art. His original paintings are shown around the country and at popular automotive events such as Pebble Beach, St. John's, Amelia Island, Auburn and the CCCA. Tom resides in Farmington Hills, Michigan with his wife Fran, where he spends each day painting the fine art of the automobile.