Renowned concrete artist Thom Hunt relies on the Preval vFan Airbrush
Thom Hunt is professional concrete sculptor and artist based in Fairbury, Nebraska. Recently Thom used the portable Preval vFan to remove some unsightly graffiti from a 30 year-old public mural in Fairbury. And as you can see in these photos, Thom’s skills with an airbrush are impeccable.
Thom’s portable painting tool of choice is the Preval vFan Airbrush System. “It wasn’t until last year when I was introduced to Preval vFan. I was sold on this airbrush because of its multi-functions and detail to fan spray. Since then I have tossed the Paasche and Badgers aside.”
As the owner and manager of Big Bamboo Studios, Thom has become renowned worldwide for his life-sized, extremely detailed concrete sculptures and vibrant recreations of plants and animals, particularly dinosaurs.
These true-to-life recreations of ancient animals and abstract geological formations are created with rebar, welding gear, wire mesh, sprayed concrete, paint sprayers, hand tools, and a ton of hard work and creativity from Thom and his partners and students at Rock Carvers, Artists and Themebuilders (a.k.a. R.A.T. International).
Today, Thom’s concrete sculptures can be found in theme parks, zoos and public spaces around the world, including installations at Disney’s Animal Kindom and aquariums across the U.S. His work in the concrete medium is so well-known that the Prime Minister of Bahrain commissioned Thom to create an artificial seawall on Jidda, his private island. Though composed entirely of sealed concrete, the resulting “sculpture” seawall appears to be just another part of the island’s natural limestone rock formation.
Speaking as a professional artist with 34 years experience, and a sculptor of concrete for 28, “I consider myself a master sculptor and painter in the Theming and Public Art industry.” He prefers not to group his work in with the recently-named school of ‘vertical concrete,’ because, he states, “everything I do is every which way.”
Regardless of the physical or aesthetic direction his art might take, Thom’s hard work and dedication to the creative process is only matched by his patience and pervasiveness. When a project demands it, he will put in 14+ hour days until a piece is complete. “Depending on what I am sculpting determines the complexity of the steel armature and sculpting. Sometimes the painting and/or staining takes the longest.”
Beyond his sculptures of rebar and concrete, Thom has been airbrushing murals, auto graphics and staining concrete, “for as long as I can remember.” We can’t wait to see what he’ll do next!
