Monument Valley Drawing

Tom Carlos was born and raised in San Jose, California. He is the son of migrant farm workers who settled in the Santa Clara valley, an agricultural region which would later become known as the Silicon Valley. As a teenager, he would sort and pick fruit at local orchards during school breaks. At the age of 18, Tom joined the U.S. Navy Seabees, and was honorably discharged after 4 years of active service. He later enrolled in the O.I.C. (Opportunities Industrialization Center) program and was formally trained as an electro-mechanical draftsman. Tom started working and at the same time, attended evening classes for the first 10 years of his career. After 45 years of employment, providing manufacturing, engineering, and graphic design services to various high technology companies, Tom has retired to become a full-time artist.