Thomas P. Furey III

"I create my art to satisfy my need to create. The need may be considered an addiction to give a part of me to anyone that understands and is willing to embrace the art. Each piece I create becomes part of my art family. It conveys where I am and what I was doing at the time of its creation. My mission as an artist is to share what I have learned over the years through my art."
-Thomas P. Furey III

Thomas P. Furey III is an award-winning artist who has lived and worked in Bucks County since the 1950s. He studied art at Bucks County Community College and the Maryland Institute College of Art. After completing college, he returned to Bristol, Pennsylvania and established an artist cooperative with two other local painters, illustrator John Ennis and Neil McIlvaine, called the Mill Street Studio. The facility served as a working studio for many local artists and was functional for twenty years.

Furey's primary medium is oil paint, and he creates in a realistic, painterly style. He enjoys rendering subjects that present a challenge and are "just plain fun to paint." He does not tie himself to themes or specific subject matter, but if he is intrigued by a subject, he will tend to do several paintings exploring it. He states, "The older I get the more I am convinced its the act of oil painting that brings me my ultimate pleasure."

Furey has also had the opportunity to work along with oil paint landscape artist Robert J. Seufert "who suggested to me to change my style. The reasoning was my love for abstract art could be used to paint realism since all realistic paintings are abstract in nature because we are creating the look of a 3D space on a 2D surface through the use of abstract shapes and color. I took his advice and the results are what I do today."

Furey's oil works have been displayed in a variety of locations in the Philadelphia region, including Bucks County Community College, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Alerbesched Gallery, and shows throughout Bucks County. Luncheon on the Delaware, an interior composition of the historic King George II Inn located in Bristol, Pennsylvania, was painted for the three-hundred-year anniversary of the town. The painting was accepted into the prestigious New York Art Exhibit for the Allied Artists of America, Inc. The original painting was sold immediately and currently resides in New York.

Aside from a career in the Fine Arts, Furey is a skilled craftsman who, over the years, has specialized in jewelry design and provided services for many local Bucks County jewelry stores. Additionally, he was the proprietor of a Pencil Portrait business. He continues to create paintings for private collectors as well as commissions.

Education and Training
Associates in Fine Arts, Bucks County Community College, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 1972-1974
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, 1975-1976
Certificate Degree, Electrical Technology, Bucks County Community College, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 1986-1989

Colleagues
John Ennis, Jo-Ann Osnoe, Robert Seufert, Rosemarie Strippoli, Rodney Miller

Teachers and Influences
Furey says, "I am influenced by everything around me. I see the world as a challenge to capture. I have been trained to look at things as an artist who creates something a little different than what is perceived. I learn a little from some people and lots from others but everyone has something educational to offer. No one person has influenced my life, everyone has."

Connection to Bucks County
Furey has lived and worked in Bucks County since the 1950s. He ran a co-op studio for local artists in Bristol for twenty years called the Mill Street Studio. He has also worked as a jewelry designer and repairman for many local Bucks County shops.

Affiliations and Memberships
Artsbridge
Artists of Yardley
Artists of Bristol
President Elect of the service club, Kiwanis International, Bristol, Pennsylvania
Founder of the BCTHS Foundation of Educational Excellence
Member of the Hibernians

Major Solo Exhibitions
One Man Show, Playmasters, Bensalem, Pennsylvania, 2014

Major Group Exhibitions
Two Artist Show, Alerbesched Gallery, Telford, Pennsylvania, 1982
Allied Artists of America, New York, New York, 1979-1981
First Place Painting, Bristol 1st Annual Art Show, Bristol, Pennsylvania, 1979
Best in Show, Bucks County 1st Annual Art Alliance Show, 1980
Proud to be American Show, Bucks County Community College, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 2014
Prallsville Mill, Artsbridge Show, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 2015
Art of the Flower, Juried Exhibit, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2015
Juried Exhibit, Gold Light Gallery, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 2015

Teaching and Professional Appointments
The Mill Street Studio, co-operative studio space in Bucks County, Bristol, Pennsylvania, organized and maintained by Furey from 1975-1995

Awards
First Place Painting, Bristol 1st Annual Art Show, 1979
Best in Show, Bucks County 1st Annual Art Alliance Show, 1980