About Tom
Tom Rodrigues has been creating iconic and renowned art in multiple mediums for over 50 years. He began at age fourteen as an apprentice at a stained glass studio in his hometown of Los Gatos, California in 1967. In 1968, before graduating high school, he started his first business, Sunrise Stained Glass Studio, creating a full spectrum of commissioned glass pieces from Art Nouveau lampshades to full installations in churches and residential panels. He relocated to Marin County in 1973, opening his own studio and continuing to grow his business, collaborating with architects and builders during the housing boom. In 1980, he was recruited as the designer and production manager for the stained glass studio for Skywalker Ranch, Lucas's film complex.
With his roots in Art Nouveau stained glass designs, designing commercial art and wine label design for wineries in the Napa Valley became his next evolution of his passion. Tom’s signature style and utilizing gold inlay in the printing process became the iconic look for the Far Niente family of wineries, including Dolce, Nickel and Nickel, EnRoute, and Bella Union.
In 1985, fine art became Tom’s new passion. Self-taught, his acrylic and oil paintings have been featured in galleries around the country, from New York to Santa Fe, Sedona, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. His series are varied in subject, but all speak to Tom’s passions and interests. An avid fisherman, his first series of fine art highlighted vibrant still lifes of trout. Intricate and up close paintings of the river rocks and stones were the feature of his next series, Sticks and Stones. Sweeping landscapes of Napa Valley vineyards, as well plein air paintings of field workers picking grapes highlight his passion for the winemaking process in his Vineyard series.
Perhaps his most famous painting series shows another love for America’s greatest pastime —baseball. A trunk full of baseball memorabilia from Hall of Famer Smokey Joe Wood’s son inspired a series of 30 paintings of the game’s best players. This collection was first exhibited in a first-of-its-kind performance and conceptual art show on the field of Candlestick Park in 1993, "Legends at the Stick". This series was also featured in Sports Illustrated, and one of his paintings was permanently installed in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 1996.
In 2001, Tom expanded his artistic passions to winemaking when he purchased a ranch in the Anderson Valley, Mendocino County. Maple Creek Winery/ARTEVINO Wines now produce award-winning Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Merlot and Bordeaux blends. Tom currently lives on the ranch, and in addition to winemaking, he still pursues his various passions; painting, designing labels and creating glass art on a commission basis.
In 2018, Tom was named Winesong's "Artist of the Year," an annual charity auction and wine and food tasting event hosted by the Mendocino Coast Hospital Foundation. Being recognized by the art and wine community in his fiftieth year as an artist is represents an honor at the intersection of two of his great passions.
