Tommy Johnson, The Lax Artist, let us into his home last night on Bravo's Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis. His family needed a cleanse of sorts to adjust their lifestyle at home.
Check out more from their home makeover on BravoTV.com.
In 2009, we interviewed acclaimed artist Tommy Johnson. He is best known in our (lacrosse) realm as The Lax Artist. Having grown up in Baltimore, Maryland, Tommy Johnson uses his childhood influences and experiences from playing lacrosse at Calvert Hall and Loyola University (formerly Loyola College) to create masterpieces. Tommy Johnson may have been a defensive specialist known for delivering bone crushing hits on the field, but, ironically, it’s his subdued side that enthralls his life these days in Pacific Palisades, California.
Not only is Tommy a remarkable painter, but he was also creatively involved with the movie, A Warrior's Heart. A Warrior's Heart is a movie that revolves around lacrosse, which released in 2011 featuring Twilight star Kellan Lutz.
Subsequently, Tommy has been involved with a number of other side projects. As of 2009, one involved skateboards. Tommy’s skateboard project consisted of fusing lacrosse with the Cali lifestyle. You might wonder how this concept can become a reality, but to Tommy it was simple. “As an artist, I have created so many things,” Tommy Johnson states. “Living in Pacific Palisades, CA, I see the kids riding skateboards with their lax sticks in hand. To me they go hand-and-hand. But remember I grew up in Maryland. I wanted to make the first Lacrosse board, and there it is.”
Johnson turned down a full scholarship offer from a top-notch university to follow his other passion, lacrosse. Johnson states on his site:
I have heard the legend that if you pursue your passions, the universe will provide. With that in mind, I decided to combine two of my greatest loves (asides from Finn), Lacrosse and Art. Since 1984 I have been experimenting with these loves and their history. Lacrosse fascinates me as it originated with the Native Americans of the US and Canada. Not a lot of people are aware that the sport was often considered a religious ritual between Native American tribes. The sport was also used to heal the ill, resolve conflicts (a dual of sorts), and to prepare for war. So to fuse such a masculine and powerful sport to something as delicate as a canvas, results in something exquisite.
For more information on Tommy’s art and other products visit his Lax Artist gallery here.