Thomas Locker

[4] At age seven, Locker won first prize in the children's division of the Washington Times-Herald annual[5][circular reference] art fair.

[4] While at the University of Chicago he studied under professor Joshua C. Taylor [1], future director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

[4] He painted 17th century Dutch-inspired oil landscapes, selling through Sears' The Vincent Price Collection, Chicago.

[8] In 1982, Locker began bringing the world of fine painting to children and young adults, producing thirty-six[4] popular illustrated books.

After this he moved from the Hudson River Valley to the less populated Catskills and returned to full-time oil painting of the American landscape.