Barfly Betty

Tom Kowach was born in 1960, in the steel town of Campbell, Ohio a suburb of Youngstown. It was a humble, simple, slow and carefree beginning. At birth he was plagued with a club foot which did not allow him to run and play like the other kids. The confinement affected him greatly. He naturally embraced art as his play choice, drawing coloring, painting and making items out of found junk. After wearing many casts on his foot and wearing shoes with embedded braces for many years, the doctors finally decided on surgery. It was a success. Although he dabbled in art during his adolescence days and later in college he did not produce many works. His College art teacher encouraged him to pursue the arts, but the desire to be financially secure kept him on an engineering path. Upon Graduating he workedat Hughes Aircraft Company in California where he was able to work for 31 years, eventually achieving duties of Department Manger and Chief Engineer. It was midway through his engineering career that Tom had the calling to pick up art again. This is the period of works presented on this site. It consists of a variety of techniques which reflect his many interests. Tom always believed that the message and feeling of the art, to move, inspire or touch someone was of most importance. Although there are many different works on this site representing his many interests, his primary goal was to create visually appealing art with a story or message driving the motivation. Tom is also a published author and photographer, cook, inventor, entrepreneur, engineer, Dad and founder of Historic Camera and The Internet Artist community.