Tom Armstrong was born in 1964 and spent 15 years growing
up in the Kapiti region. Interested in drawing from an early age
he started secondary school at Parapaumu college but wasn't particularily academic and left early. Later however moved to palmerston North and studied with Sue Artner at Queen Elizabeth College, well known for its history of nurturing serious art students. After gaining entry to Otago School of Fine Arts in the mid 1980s, where strongly influenced by european-trained Walden Tucker. He left for the UK to widen his experience of the art world.  
During nearly ten years in the UK, Armstrong visited the National Gallery in london - which he found both inspiring and humbling- as often as possible, and some of Europe's major museums. A Cezanne retrospective at the Tate Gallery was particularily powerful, he was also stuck by the madonna and icon paintings and early Italian works and certain 20th century paintings. Since returning to New Zealand Armstrong has focused on establishing a house/studio and garden in rural shannon, where he paints full-time.
A figurative manner seems the most natural way for Armstrong to work, and developing his understanding of the two-dimentional format continues, while painting sometimes feels somehat archaic he continues to find inspiration and vitality in it. Armstrong draws on historic themes as well as everyday life, combines elements of tragedy and comedy in recognisable characters and performers, a variety of animals to represent the lives we lead.