Background

By sharing my artwork on this website, I hope to encourage others to immerse themselves—even late in life—in any creative interests they might have. Whatever the results, the process can be a joy.

Winston Churchill, who took up painting after his distinguished political career, conveyed this sentiment in an essay titled “Painting as a Pastime” as follows:

“I should be proud if these sketches induced others to have tried the experiment which I have tried, and if some at least were to find themselves dowered with an absorbing new amusement delightful to themselves, and at any rate not violently harmful to man or beast.”

My interest in drawing did not start with my retirement. It began as early as I can remember. My parents, both immigrants from Europe, told me that I had a special gift and encouraged me to pursue it. But my constant drawing as a child took a back seat to sports and academics in high school and college, slowed to a trickle in law school, and dried up completely during my legal career—with one important exception: I was able to take a few unforgettable “drawing trips” to Europe with my children in which we sketched sculptures in museums in Rome, Florence and Paris.

As my friends know, my siblings and I wrote a book about our parents titled Eva & Otto, Resistance, Refugees, and Love in the Time of Hitler. The book pays tribute to their courage in fighting fascism and to the love that sustained them. For both of them, art and music provided powerful evidence of humanity that gave them hope in the most difficult of times. My belated return to art, and my children’s love of art and music, are part of their enduring legacy.

If you are interested in sharing a link to your own artwork, please let me know. I especially enjoy seeing the creative work of friends and colleagues of my vintage.

Tom Pfister

Thomas.L.Pfister@gmail.com