About the artist & maker Thomas Duane

I attended Pratt Institute as a recipient of the “Raw Talent Scholarship.” After graduating, I was recruited by Ralph Lauren to illustrate Ralph Lauren’s fashion concepts in photo realistic color pencil drawings. During my time at Ralph Lauren I designed Men’s leather goods, sweaters, knits, suits and shoes. I learned about the importance of quality and craftsmanship. When I left Ralph Lauren at the age of 25, I was as the youngest director in company history. 

I left Ralph Lauren to start a brand identity and package design company. I led a team that designed fashion design, brand identities, packaging, and print communications for fashion and beauty companies including: Estée Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, Christian Dior, Fendi, Liz Claiborne, Coach, Cosmair, Revlon, Perry Ellis, Clarins, and Stuart Weitzman. My work took me all over the world. My fashion work also attracted the attention of professional sports league who wanted to update their uniform designs as well as their logos and brand identities. My design agency did redesigns for hundreds of professional sports teams all over the world including for the NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL, Korean Professional Football, Australian Professional Basketball, Australian Football League, IAAF (global track and field) in Monaco. I also had the pleasure of designing athlete logos, uniforms and fashion merchandise for Tiger Woods, and former heavyweight champions Evander Holyfield and Jon Ruiz.

In 2004 I moved to San Francisco to become the creative director for a major online travel website. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the Pacific Northwest.

As a fine artist, I am multi-disciplined and enjoy working in a variety of mediums. I tend to be representational in my work but can move from photo-realism to abstract comfortably. I enjoy creating pieces that use bold strong colors combined with high-detail. I like unusual subject matters and enjoy combining unlikely elements into my pieces. For instance, combining my pen and ink illustrations with antique maps. My fashion background continues to be a theme in my work, inspiring me to explore functional and wearable art, as well as illustrations to adorn and enhance walls. 

About the tree artwork featured on many of my bags:

I’ve been working on a series of pen & ink drawings that celebrate elements of nature found in the beautiful city of San Francisco. Each illustration is done ink to paper, no pencils allowed. Many of my pen and ink drawings feature trees and scenes from Alamo Square Park which is bordered by the famous “Painted Ladies” of San Francisco. I recently discovered that the land on which Alamo Square Park resides was once owned by my ancestor “Dutch” Charley Duane.

Alamo Square Park is bordered by Hayes and Steiner Streets in San Francisco’s Alamo Square neighborhood. Alamo means poplar tree in Spanish and in the early 1800s, a lone cottonwood on Alamo Hill marked a watering hole along the horseback trail from Mission Dolores to the Presidio. Land in and around Alamo Square was claimed by a number of squatters including the former Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department (my ancestor) “Dutch” Charley Duane. 

Born Charles Patrick Duane in Tipperary, Ireland, in 1827, as a child he immigrated with his family to Albany, New York. Dutch was a bare-knuckle boxer, ruffian and Irish vote organizer for CA State Senator David C. Broderick. At the age of twenty he was active in organizing the St. Francis Hook and Ladder Company. In 1853 he was voted chief. He is noted as the first fireman to carry a water hose into a burning building to fight the fire from within. He first did this at a hospital that had caught fire where he gained temporary hero status after he single-handedly rescued 16 people. In an interview with a San Francisco Chronicle reporter he was asked, “What compelled you to run into that fire instead of just soaking the outside as was usual?” Duane, known for having a good sense of humor, replied: “My pal Jimmy was in there with a broken leg and I simply could not stand by and watch him burn up. Besides, he owes me twenty dollars.” 

In 1856, when the Committee of Vigilance formed a private army to “clean up the city”, they quickly evolved from their original altruistic purpose to settling personal disputes. Dutch Charley Duane had made enemies of several Vigilance Committee members and was targeted by them. He was sent back to New York on a steamship, and his land was included in the 12.7 acres set aside by Mayor James Van Ness as a public park, which he named Alamo Square Park. This was done so that Duane would be discouraged from returning to San Francisco. He would return five years later and although he spent the rest of his life attempting to have his land restored to him (unfortunately having his case heard by Judges that had participated in the Vigilance Committee), he died in 1887 at the age of sixty having failed to do so. 

In addition to its spectacular views of both the city on one side, and the sunsets on the other, the parks edge is decorated by gorgeous mansions including the world famous “Painted Ladies.” These beautiful houses were built on Steiner Street between 1892 and 1896 and help make San Francisco the third most photographed city in the world (New York City has first place, followed by London) beating San Francisco’s sister city Paris (which is in fourth place). 

As his descendant, I take special pride in Alamo Square Park and enjoy documenting its beauty with my artwork. 

I accept art and handbag commissions and can be contacted by email at: tduane62@gmail.com, or text me at (415) 310-2091