Thomas Andrew Findlay is a self-taught painter who was born in Miami, Florida in 1967. He is the middle of three sons and attended Auburn University where he studied computer graphics. After graduation in 1990, Tom moved to South Carolina to become the Art Director for Conso Products International. In 1997, Tom decided to become an entrepreneur, founding a magazine and radio show in Birmingham, AL. A year later, he opened a retail store. In 1999, Tom sold his businesses to launch a dot com. He raised $1 million in seed capital from several angel investors.

In 2004, Tom decided to dive into the world of fine art. His first paintings were of dramatic angelic figures inspired by his mother who passed away in 1996 of colon cancer. In 2006, he transitioned into creating images based on the American landscape. Tom’s colorful landscape paintings 
quickly grew in popularity, prompting Tom to call his studio "Red Tree Studio." And though he is best known for his landscapes, Tom has expanded his subject matter into new directions. His "Horses on the Horizon" series has been a great success in the mid-west, and his "Lone Boat Serenity" artwork is collected by those who love the water. He also paints a series of colorful elephants using only a palette knife. Moreover, Tom says this about his work, “I am a true colorist at heart. I love color because it can conjure deep emotions. I am inspired by it and hope to inspire with it. The color of a painting is far more important to me than the complexity of the image.”