Tom turned his interest in art into a successful career as a graphic designer. With the partners of his company, CKS Partners, he created some of the more important corporate identity programs of the 1980s and '90s. He directed programs for such companies as Apple Computer, United Airlines, Hyatt Hotels, Pixar Animation Studios, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and the World Wildlife Fund.

Throughout his graphic design career, Tom was always looking back to his early painting days, wanting to eventually resume full-time painting. In 2001, Tom returned to art school, studying under Craig and Anna Nelson and Laurie Kersey at the Academy of Art in San Francisco.

Tom now shares his time between the California bay area and Whitefish, Montana. When he's not spending time with his wife and four boys or fly-fishing, he can often be found on a quiet back road on the outskirts of town, painting landscapes in a style that has been described as "contemporary realism with bold strokes of paint and color that pops!"