Michael James Toomy

Meet Michael Toomy
Peek inside the head of one of New Hampshire’s rising artistic stars
By Hannah Onoroski

The Londonderry Arts Council will host New Hampshire artist Michael James Toomy in a meet the artist event.

Toomy, a relative newcomer to the New Hampshire art scene, will display about 30 of his original pieces at the Leach Library in Londonderry. Toomy deals almost exclusively in black and white.

“By breaking down the subjects to simple blocks of light and dark, I try to tell a story, leaving it up to the viewer to interpret just what the story is, to fill in the blanks,” Toomy said.

Each of Toomy’s pieces possesses a humanity and sensitivity and his pieces tackle a variety of subjects.

One haunting piece is titled “Ghosts of the Warsaw Ghetto II,” and features the innocent, staring faces of several young children trapped in the ghetto.

Toomy has been painting ever since he was a child, but received little to no professional artistic schooling.

“A few Saturday classes at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston,” is the extent of his training, he said. But Toomy’s skill with a brush is evident.

The “Meet the Artist” event will be relatively informal, with Toomy answering questions one-on-one with his audience. The event will be held at the Leach Library in Londonderry on Saturday, April 8 from 1-3 p.m.

Artist Statement

I have always been drawn to the relationship between black & white. Their ability both gives images a factual weight and at the same time they almost give the subject a dream like quality.

In my work I try to tell a story, leaving it up to the viewer to interpret just what the story is, to fill in the blanks, leaving the images loose enough that the viewer can place themselves into the piece, placing their own histories into the work. I try to bring compelling moments and emotions together in a way that they almost get the impression that they are looking at a memory or ghost, not a picture of someone or place. I do not want to tell the viewer who or what the image is about; I want the viewer to narrate the painting for themselves.


By breaking down the subjects to simple blocks of light and dark, I try to capture the relationship between memory and the moment. I want the viewer to feel the piece inside, to provoke an emotion response, to make them think for a moment. Feel something new every time they view the work. Whether it is a simple portrait or a more complicated painting, I try to convey a sense that the subject has a real history, a real place in time and that the image is just a fleeting moment in that subjects life. The absent of color allows me to do that, letting the viewers mind interperate and fill in the voids, hopefully making the painting a personal experience.


Although I have had very little formal art training, (1 semester at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston while I was a senior in high school & some evening courses) I was, as a young man a working singer/songwriter and have seen first hand how a good narrative lyric can connect with a person. That is what I am trying to accomplish.

Simply stated I want the viewer to emotionally connect with the painting and interrupt it’s meaning for themselves.

-MJT