Pete Tansill

Compositions of Sculptures with Found Antique Objects, Distressed & Painted Furniture and Accessories.

About the Artist

My works are a collection of found objects placed together in a composition which invokes an idea of a more innocent time. My sculptures include objects found when antiquing and dumpster-jumping. I really don’t know what I am looking for, when I am looking. It just happens to appear. When I bring the items to my shop, I assemble them as
shown in the gallery below.

Education:

  • Graduated from Radford with a BA in Fine Arts 1985
  • VCU School of the Arts 1980-1982


Exhibitions:

  • Upcast Gallery, December 2004, one-man show
  • 2006 Gallery at Plant Zero in Richmond, VA
  • Current works on exhibit at Millie’s Diner, Lulu’s
  • Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Gift Shop

My works are a collection of found objects placed together in a composition which invokes an idea of a more innocent time. My sculptures include objects found when antiquing and dumpster-jumping. I really don’t know what I am looking for, when I am looking. It just happens to appear. When I bring the items to my shop, I assemble them as shown in the gallery below.

Education:

  • Graduated from Radford with a BA in Fine Arts 1985
  • VCU School of the Arts 1980-1982

Exhibitions:

  • Upcast Gallery, December 2004, one-man show
  • 2006 Gallery at Plant Zero in Richmond, VA
  • Current works on exhibit at Millie’s Diner, Lulu’s
  • Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Gift Shop

Artwork Featured in Print:

Found Object Art II – 2009 – From once-cast-aside items, these artists have carefully crafted fine jewelry to experiential gallery installations. This book takes you on an exciting tour through their imaginations. Experience the found object art movement touted by artists and groups like Philadelphia’s Dumpster Divers who declare trash the “failure of imagination” and set out to glorify what others have cast aside. More than 80 artists across the United States and Europe are represented in over 400 original artworks. Many of them make their work a poignant environmental message, some uncover treasure and transcendent beauty, and still others set out simply to evoke a smile. This is a delightful treasury of one-of-a-kind artworks that you’ll want to study and be inspired by time and again. A listing of galleries that represent the artists shown is included to help you on your way to discovering more artists and increasing your collection.

Found Object Art II – 2009

From once-cast-aside items, these artists have carefully crafted fine jewelry to experiential gallery installations. This book takes you on an exciting tour through their imaginations. Experience the found object art movement touted by artists and groups like Philadelphia’s Dumpster Divers who declare trash the “failure of imagination” and set out to glorify what others have cast aside. More than 80 artists across the United States and Europe are represented in over 400 original artworks. Many of them make their work a poignant environmental message, some uncover treasure and transcendent beauty, and still others set out simply to evoke a smile. This is a delightful treasury of one-of-a-kind artworks that you’ll want to study and be inspired by time and again. A listing of galleries that represent the artists shown is included to help you on your way to discovering more artists and increasing your collection.

Artistically Restored Furniture

I am currently working on old furniture pieces and making my mark on them with distressed paint and other materials. Please visit my studio to view these pieces. If you have a piece of furniture or something you would like painted, please let me know.

Artistically Restored & Painted Furniture for Sale

5-Drawer Chest

$475.00

The Studio

If you would like to schedule an appointment to visit my studio in Hanover County, VA, please shoot me a message and we can set up a time to meet.

Latest Review

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What can one say about the dismembered — and creatively re-membered — vintage baby dolls that star in Pete Tansill’s sculptures?

For those who appreciate Pete’s always-evident dry humor, each new piece of baby-doll art is a celebration of wit, a three-dimensional nose-thumbing of convention. From babies riding a mounted Muskie to coffee-urn-bellied dolls to Mad Max-style baby hooligans astride unlikely steampunk-ish vehicles, they all offer a glimpse into an alternate world in which everything is hilariously not quite right.

I pity those rare individuals who confess to being afraid or “creeped out” by art that incorporates dolls. Really? I don’t even want to know why; I just don’t want to hang out with those people. If they don’t enjoy Pete’s art, they certainly won’t enjoy me, either.

Pete’s sculptures are much-appreciated additions to the art collections in my husband’s and my homes and in our restaurants. And even though I’ve seen and studied upwards of three digits’ worth of these marvelous aggregates, I’m always thrilled with each new assemblage.

Linda L Lauby

President, Outer Banks Press

Contact the Artist

To speak with me or make an appointment to visit my studio, please email me below or call 804-357-8026.

Location

Central Virginia, Richmond, Hanover