Tom Cramer is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 artist working in Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. He is mostly noted for his intricately carved and painted wood reliefs http://www.tomcramer.net/articles/Whats_not_is.htm. Often called the unofficial Artist Laureate of Portland, Cramer is one of the most visible and successful artists in the city and is represented by The Laura Russo Gallery.

Cramer made a name for himself in the 1980s and 1990s becoming a bridge between historical Oregon artists like Clifford Gleason and Milton Wilson and the international influx of new artists to the city since the mid 1990s.

Since his schooling in the early 1980s at the Pacific Northwest College of Art

Pacific Northwest College of Art

The Pacific Northwest College of Art is a private fine art and design college in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1910, the art school grants bachelor of fine arts degrees and master of fine arts degrees and has an enrollment of about 550 students...

 and Brooklyn's Pratt Institute

Pratt Institute

Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...

, Tom Cramer has perhaps become Portland's most widely seen artist. An Oregon native, Cramer is a devout populist. He's made custom-painted cars. He's carved sculptures and wall reliefs He's done gallery shows. He even designed the set and costumes for James Canfield's 1995 dance "Jungle" at Oregon Ballet Theatre.

Cramer went to High school with Gus Van Sant

Gus Van Sant

Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...

 and appeared briefly in his feature film My Own Private Idaho

My Own Private Idaho

My Own Private Idaho is a 1991 independent drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant, loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V, and starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves...

.

External links

• Tom Cramer (official website)