Thomas Hiromu Nagata
Was born of Japanese-American parents in 1947 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He left Hawaii to attend Ohio University on a baseball scholarship where he graduated with a B.F.A. in Graphic Design. Two months later, he found it necessary to sell his art portfolio in exchange for air fare back to Hawaii in order to report for his draft induction physical only to be disqualified due to athletic injuries.
Even though art was his primary passion, Tom began his career in the field of education and his second passion, coaching, in the Paint Valley School District of Ohio. He soon married, moved to Ft. Myers, Florida, began teaching in the Lee County School District, and raised three sons… twins Mark and Trent and his youngest Tai. Other accomplishments include coaching his sons’ baseball teams to the Florida State Championships twice, illustrating magazine covers for a new trade magazine, The Roofer Magazine, and co-authoring a youth-at-risk program for the city of Ft. Myers, S.T.A.R.S. (Success Through Athletic and Recreational Support). The City of Ft. Myers adopted his poster in 1988 as the official city poster. In 1984 the University of Florida contracted to use one of his football posters for an alumni fundraiser when they won their first national championship, which was rescinded for rules violations.
Tom’s original compositions have always been acrylic. His limited edition silk-screen pieces ranged from four to twenty-one colors. What started as acrylic on illustration board has literally blossomed into 30”x40” gallery wrapped canvases that curiously tease the eye into following the painting around its edges. The subjects of his painting, near and dear to his heart, boldly reflect his youth in Hawaii. Orchids and imperial koi are direct ties to his Auntie Emily’s family and their Kodama Orchid Nurseries of Hawaii.
A foreground cluster of bold colored orchids boasts their blooms, while a quieter cluster in the background, though not direct, creates a depth of field allowing the artist to manipulate positive and negative spaces. These orchids merge off the canvas. While strong in their appearance, they entice the onlooker into discovering that their strength lies within their delicacy. Tom continues his bold freedom in choice of color in his imperial koi paintings and purposefully balances this color with the action created in the water as a result of the koi’s movement. As one observes these koi, there is no doubt in the onlooker’s mind to where each of the koi is moving, thus completing the koi’s graceful movement.
Tom extends his attention to detail into his technique. Pigments are laboriously applied by initially diluting the acrylics. Acrylic is mixed with distilled water in white porcelain tea cups and covered with plastic petri dishes to keep the pigment from drying, permitting him more time to work with different tones and hues. These liquid hues are then applied layer by layer in order to achieve the desired effects. This is a very patient, time-consuming process, taking two to three months per original. Nagata’s representational art with its dramatic interaction of colors strongly emphasizes his heritage.
Nagata spent a total of 27 years as a teacher in the Lee County FL School District, primarily teaching art to elementary and middle school students with the hope of passing along to younger generations his passion for art and color. He retired from teaching in 2014 and now devotes full-time efforts to his painting. Currently he produces canvases of various sizes, continuing his focus on Hawaiian and tropical subjects.
Nagata married his friend and co-worker, Judy, whom he met 50 years ago, in 2013. Together they look forward to a fulfilling future of love, happiness, and art.
