Artist Tom Killion was born in Mill Valley, California. The area, Marin County and northern California, was rugged and inspired Killion from an early age to represent those places in his art, mainly by using linoleum and wood prints. He was strongly influenced by the traditional Japanese Ukiyo-e style of Hokusai and Hiroshige.
Killion earned a degree in history at UC Santa Cruz and, while there, was introduced to fine book printing. In 1978, he began his graduate studies in African History at Stanford, completing his doctorate on Ethiopia in 1985. During this time, Killion continued making woodcut prints of the rugged California landscape (Bolinas Ridge for instance).
Killion has an extensive history of teaching history, has been a Fulbright Scholar, and is currently still very active in California printmaking.
Leave a Reply