Thom Haxo~Once Upon a Carrot: Love Letters to My Family, Chapter the Second

**Thom Haxo**~**Once Upon a Carrot: Love Letters to My Family, Chapter the Second**

An exhibition of Thom Haxo drawings created from the heart specifically for his family in Crayola crayons for special holidays and events has become a tradition. The works involve the immediate family, dog, bunnies, cats, as well as a familiar mouse. These works were not designed for art gallery viewing, but are shown in this setting as a gift from the Haxo family to the viewers at the **Neil Hammer Gallery at the Meekins Library in Williamsburg**.

Thom Haxo says “I have developed a great love for working with crayons and their unique effect of developing richness and variation in color through waxed layers. It is unfortunate that, as other materials such as markers, colored pencils, and digital software become more accessible to children, crayons have been mostly designated to the elementary school years of childhood. During the many years of working on the series, I discovered that crayons are a very valid material to be considered by all ages interested in making art. These works were done with a light touch of celebration, but serious dedication and love to my family.”

**There will be an artist reception on Friday, June 19 from 3:30-5:30 pm.**

Specializing in figure sculpture and drawing, puppetry, computer modeling and animation, Thom Haxo is an imaginative artist and associate art professor emeritus at Hampshire College. Finalist in the 2001 Harold Connolly Memorial competition, the 2001 Sojourner Truth memorial competition and the 1988 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial competition, his works have been widely exhibited. He has worked on set, puppet, and mask design for the last twenty years. Projects include The *Skriker* by Caryl Churchill, *I Stand Before You Naked* by Joyce Carol Oates, and Two collaborations with Peter Lobdell and Charles Ditto, *The Millennium* *Two-Step* and *Noveto*, and more recently, *Naufrage*, a work with his daughter, composer Cara Haxo.

Haxo received a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute and an M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Haydenville, with his wife, Anne, and his cats, Mimi and Moose.