Kim A. Tolman
Originally from Germany's rural North Sea coast, not far from Bremen and the famous town musicians, Kim set aside her original trade as a furniture maker to attend art & design college. She started painting in her teens, long before studying it.
She relocated to the beautiful media city of Cologne in her twenties, bringing her first big-city exhibitions and press. She was soon designing sets and costumes for theatre and opera. The passion for design and theatre soon became a full-time engagement.
In the late 90s, she met her husband. Joining him in San Francisco in 2001, she designed and worked on hundreds of theatre productions in the Bay Area and nationally, winning several awards for her designs.
Moving to Los Angeles in 2010 opened up opportunities to work in themed entertainment. She's worked with the biggest names in themed entertainment including Walt Disney Imagineering, NBC Universal, and Universal Studios Japan.
Her TV production design work has included McDonald's, DreamWorks, Pepsi Cola, and L'Oreal.
Her TV production design work has included McDonald's, DreamWorks, Pepsi Cola, and L'Oreal.
Now residing in Palm Springs, CA, her dream to focus on her lifelong love of art and painting, became reality. Full circle as they say.
Kim has had exhibitions in both Europe and the U.S. She prefers large format and her abstract, expressive work emphasizes texture and color. She hopes viewers will form their own interpretations of her luscious concoctions of color and texture, which are often created in layered stages, adding complexity to the finished paintings.
Although painting in a more representational style was always part of her repertoire, she just recently started a new direction, painting imaginary, moody, slightly surreal subject matter, as evidenced by her new Lost Highways series.
www.kimatolmanfineart.com
www.kimatolmandesign.com
Kim A. Tolman, Eremophobia, 2024, Acrylic on Canvas, Triptych, 108" x 36"