Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas (T.D.) Motley.
Hi Thomas (T.D.), thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
1. Your Story: After teaching for several decades at Dallas College, I retired as Professor Emeritus of art and art history in 2016. During the last years of that long career, my artist wife Rebecca managed our business, Tom Motley North Texas Gardens. We grew and sold organic heirloom herbs and produce to DFW area Farmers Market customers and to restaurants, including Texas Chefs Stephan Pyles, Matt McCallister, Andrea Shackleford and Sharon Van Meter. We both retired in 2016, and moved from McKinney to east Ft. Worth’s Central Meadowbrook neighborhood, where we are surrounded by artists, educators, and fellow gardeners, many of whom are lifelong friends. My artwork is available at J. Peeler Howell Fine Art, Ft. Worth.
At a recent book signing and reading event for the Fort Worth Chapter of AARP, I suggested the audience of retirees, and “soon-to-be” such, keep themselves open for new interests and surprises. In my case, I did not anticipate that my career in retirement would be as an author of fiction. My teaching career was paralleled with my artworks being included in gallery and museum exhibits, and by a respectable list of published non-fictional art essays, reviews, and museum catalog commentary. I expected that avenue of interest would be continued in retirement, but with increased volume.
The unexpected gem of opportunity for me to create new works that would combine my love of drawing and writing in one package, the novel, was an epiphany. Like any novelist, I write about things I know and have experienced or observed, but telling about those things in a fictional composition allows me to create something akin to the complexity of some of my most interesting paintings.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Obstacles/Challenges along the way: Like many Vets, I was an over-achiever, after four years as a printer in the USAF. When I got back to Texas, I was elated to land a job as an illustrator for LTV Corp. Best of all, I was on a swing-shift crew that worked from 4:45pm to 1:30am, so that I could take day classes at UTA to complete my BFA in Painting. I took at least 12 hours of classes each semester, and my grades kept me on The Dean’s List. After my USAF service, I was motivated to excel. I was worried that my four years away from college had put me considerably behind my civilian peers. LTV provided me with a good salary, excellent on-the-job professional training, and hours that allowed me to work at night.
Then, the economic hammer fell. One evening, as the approximately twenty-five illustrators settled in at their drawing tables, our Lead Man stood before us with an announcement. Due to unforeseen economic pressures on the company, the entire swing-shift was being laid off. I’d been with LTV for about a year and a half, and a solid three semesters of A’s at UTA. I thought the world had crashed atop my head. I still needed two full semesters and a summer of courses to finish my BFA. I couldn’t imagine how I would ever find another such perfect night job to pay enough to support my young family, including a four year old and an infant. I saw a bleak picture ahead, as the road to my goal seemed to have moved much further into my planned future.
I met with my advisor, Professor Gene Turner, and told him the whole sad story, explaining why I would probably have to postpone my education. He thought a moment, then asked “Have you been to Financial Aids?” I asked “What’s that?” Vets are often slow to ask for help. Turned out, I qualified for lots of help.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
About the Work: What do you do?
My first novel was released in August, 2024, titled “The Art of Farming: Sketches of a Life in the Country.” The sequel, titled “Planting and Painting the Landscape” was just released, August, 2026. Both novels are written and illustrated by T.D. Motley (the pen name I’ve chosen for my works in fiction), and published by Stoney Creek Publishing, member of The Texas Book Consortium, distributed by A&M Press.
My books are about stewardship, but not in a preachy way. The protagonist caretakers of the land and animals at Bartlett Farm regard their thirty acres as a natural sanctuary for all visitors. Annie is a food writer, currently finishing a book on the history of rice farming in Texas. Sam is a retired art professor who paints large landscapes and sells the farm’s organic heirloom herbs and produce to Farmers Market customers and to North Texas chefs.
The conniving antagonist in my farm stories is Solomon, a miniature donkey, who gives his kindly steward frequent headaches by unlocking gates to the gardens or breaking into the feed room for unwarranted snacks. Sol is also a charming and amiable companion to all the two-legged and four-legged critters at Bartlett Farm. Lastly, the sunsets in Barnes County are always spectacular, any time of year.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Favorite childhood memory?
I was born in Beaumont, and schooled there to the fourth grade, when the family moved north. My Dad was a roughneck, working in east Texas and Louisiana coastal oil fields. He worked on the first off-shore rigs in the Gulf. He loved fishing. From my earliest memories, I accompanied him on fishing trips, with other roughnecks and their sons, along the canals, streams and bayous from Beaumont to Lake Charles. These watery sojourns often prompted eerie feelings as we slid on quiet fog-filled creeks with occasional wild creature sounds from nearby invisible sandbars. Sometimes we could detect the low grumble of unseen panthers hidden by the mist.
But my favorite weekends included fishing all day along beaches and shorelines from Nederland to High Island to Bolivar. We’d arrive at sunset to catch the ferry from Bolivar to Galveston. Flying fish and sleek, smooth dolphin would perform marine aerobics beside the ferry, gliding with us all the way to Galveston. I’d be allowed to fish under the stars with Dad as late as I was able to keep my child’s eyes open. I tried to hang in there with the adults, but always woke at sunrise from a sound sleep atop one of Granny’s quilts in the bed of Dad’s pickup.
Contact Info:
- Website: TD Motley Books archive at: stoneycreekpublishing.com and/or tamupress.com
- Instagram: @tomdmotley
- LinkedIn: Thomas Motley
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTJcSCK2Ju0 (D. Craddock) BookMark TAMU/PBS, Season 24, episode 15 (C. Brown)
- Other: TD Motley Art Archive at J. Peeler Howell Fine Art, Ft. Worth: jphfineart.com
