Featured Artist Tom Hoitsma

For artist Tom Hoitsma, a single night of destruction sparked an artistic journey into resilience and the quiet power of nature. Visit his website to see more of his portfolio.

 

 

In October 2019, my kids and I learned firsthand a brutal lesson about the climate crisis. Dallas used to see maybe one tornado a year, but in recent years that number had tripled—and their intensity had grown. On October 20, 2019, one of these super tornadoes tore through our neighborhood.

 

 

With winds reaching 140 miles per hour and a path nearly three-quarters of a mile wide, it came straight down our street. By some act of grace, the tornado jumped over the first five houses on the west end—including mine, where my kids and I were sheltering—but it destroyed most of the homes just east of us. We’ve all seen images of devastation on the news, but walking the neighborhood the next morning was something else entirely. It was surreal, disorienting, and deeply unsettling.

 

 

That morning, my 12-year-old daughter and I met a couple standing in front of what remained of their home. The roof was gone. A few interior walls were still upright, but most of the exterior walls were nothing but piles of brick.

 

 

The couple pointed to a lone white door that was somehow still standing and said, “Do you see that door? We were all huddled behind it when the tornado tore the roof off. The air was full of flying debris, and we just clutched each other until it passed. Right in front of that door used to be our bedroom.” Then they added quietly, “We’re just so grateful the four of us made it out without a scratch.”

 

 

That moment stayed with me. It made me think about how resilient people are—how, even when our hearts are broken, we somehow aren’t defeated. We emerge from experiences forever changed, but eventually, we find our way back to light.

 

 

At first, the twisted metal scattered through the neighborhood felt like the perfect metaphor for that resilience. I began collecting pieces—fragments literally torn from homes—and brought them back to my studio to give them new life as something vibrant and beautiful.

 

 

In 2025 these sculptures have morphed into a series of florally inspired paintings. Just as I watched my neighbors rebuild I have watched flowers poke through the cement of an abandoned parking lot or broken sidewalk. They are, at their core, a meditation on the unstoppable healing power of the human heart.

 

 

As I watched my neighbors rebuild—many starting from nothing—I also saw nature quietly reclaim the broken ground. Grass and flowers pushed through the rubble, trees sprouted new leaves, and life returned. That same resilience I saw in my neighbors was mirrored in nature all around us and that is what inspired this series of new florally inspired paintings.

 

 

These days, whether I’m painting or sculpting, my focus is on resilience and rebirth. Nature will not be denied. I find beauty, comfort, and inspiration in that truth. My new series, The Unknowable World, is a celebration of that endless cycle of renewal.

 

Tom Hoitsma invites you to follow on Instagram and Facebook.

 

 

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