Artist to Watch: Tom McKinney

My father had a friend named Tom McKinney. I have no idea how they met but I just remember this black guy , in his mid-twenies early thirty's , came over to my house in the middle of the summer one afternoon. He seemed nice but he wasn't like the other adults that my dad was friends with...My Dad was a hustler so I was used to 1970's gangster types, street guys,...Tom wasn't that.He was soft spoken and detailed oriented and creative. Anyways, he came to my house and took snap shots of my sister, my brother , my mom and I and just left. When I later asked who he was, my Mom said "Oh that's Tom McKinney, your father's friend who painted most of the painting in our house!"
He was the first artist I ever met! My house had over 100 paintings in it. Some paintings were hung up some just stacked up around the house on the floor.
They were of black children playing, old men sitting on a porch playing checkers,one painting was of Ghandi and also he painted a portrait of my father!
Looking back on things I realized that although my parents weren't highly educated , they were my first teachers beyond teaching me manners and morals but they exposed me to art, black art.They exposed me to music too! I basically grew up in a museum. My father passed away February 10,2008 and he left all those paintings that were hung or lying around my house as a kid to me and my brother and sister.Some of them hang in my brothers house and my mom's but most are still in storage until I own my own home.
You should take the time to google Tom McKinney, he is still alive and doing well!
A few months ago I went to spend time with Hill Harper at his Los Angeles home and notice that he owns a painting of Tom's. Its a small world.
Pictured above is his artwork. Enjoy!