Artist. Caregiver. Storyteller.

I’m a self-taught papermaker, photographer, and writer whose work is deeply shaped by life’s intensity and beauty. My journey into art is not one I planned—it’s one I needed.

With master’s degrees in Health Services Management & Policy and Public Administration, I spent years in healthcare management before shifting into education as a high school social studies teacher. For decades, I’ve also been the primary caregiver for my husband, a Marine Corps veteran who has lived with the long-term effects of encephalitis since 1993 and with service-connected ALS since 2010.

Caregiving has been demanding—sometimes isolating, frequently profound. Art has become the place where I reclaim myself.

Photography came first: chasing light, framing landscapes, and finding stillness in motion. Then came writing—three books and many reflections. In 2023, papermaking found me. From the first pull of pulp, I felt something shift. It was grounding, tactile, alive. I now create handmade paper from plants in my garden, recycled fibers, and whatever the season offers. Each sheet is a quiet act of transformation—just like life.

Art helps me process the hard parts. It reminds me to look for light, even in the shadows. I create art to discover the beauty within myself—and perhaps help others find it, too.

Tom Ward
PAINTER

“When I paint, it’s a peaceful, easy feeling” ~ Tom Ward

Painting found Tom when he was learning how to live his life after a serious brain infection. A native of Long Island, New York, Tom served as a United States Marine before building a career as an excess and surplus lines insurance broker in Manhattan. In 1993, he contracted encephalitis, which left him with cognitive impairments affecting his executive function. Unable to continue his professional career, he found himself searching for purpose and a new way of being in the world.

The turning point came unexpectedly in an upstate New York gallery, where he was stopped cold by a painting of a plum — the way the artist had turned the form, rendered light on flesh, captured the interior where a slice had been removed. Tom tracked down the painter, Virginia Walsh, and asked to study with her privately. He had never held a brush. It took years. Over the years diligence, persistence, and tenacity paid off.

Under Walsh's mentorship, Tom developed into a deeply expressive painter working primarily in oil. His subjects range from coastal landscapes to still life. In 2010, he was diagnosed with ALS — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — a terminal neurodegenerative disease. As a former Marine, Tom is among veterans who face twice the civilian risk of developing the illness.

He and Mary moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, choosing to live by the beach they had always loved. A decade later, Tom continues to paint. For many years he enjoyed en plein air painting. He is no longer able to do this, though that doesn't stop him from painting. He has a home studio that comfortably suits his needs.

The two works offered here — Freedom on the Hill and Boys on the Beach — are Giclée prints on Fine Art Velvet paper, professionally scanned and accompanied by certificates of authenticity printed on Mary's handmade paper. Tom's original works remain part of the Ward family's private collection, considered his lasting legacy. Additional works are available at cottageatmarehaven.com.

To hear Tom speak about his journey in his own words, watch the short documentary filmed by Mary at this link.