From the beginning.....

Hello everyone,

Thanks for calling past my very own little bit of the InterWEB.  Please make yourself at home, grab a cup of tea or maybe even a coffee, and enjoy yourself.


Ok so why am I starting a blog?
As some of you are well aware I run a small company called SplodgeAway and have had some great successes and some pretty big failures, I have made friends, enemies and friends which turned out to be enemies, I have also met all kinds of people some great some no so great, things are pretty good at the moment though...   :)

I have decided that people don't know the real Tom, I have spent too much time developing new products and designs and not enough time doing things I enjoy like, Art, writing, Crafts, Sculpture, Woodwork and other things that make me tick.

I'm not saying that this blog is everyone's cup of tea, maybe you don't want to know me, that's fine too...

I am hoping that if people understand me and see how I tick, then they will come to trust me and become more than just a customer number in an automated website, they will become my friend.

Me and my beautiful baby Holly-Ann....  She lights up my life more than she will ever know...

Ok so lets start the ball rolling with my physical appearance and a few questions at this moment...

Name: Tom Johnson

Age: 35 yes I know I look older, I've had a hard paper round....

Weight: Around 12 Stone

Height: 5 foot 7 inches, I am vertically challenged

Sexual Preference: Heterosexual, sorry guys... :p

Partner: Susan

Left or Right Handed: Left of course.....

Children: Holly-Ann

Favourite Colour: Electric Blue

Favourite Food: Corn on the Cob, Peri Peri Chicken, Steamed Veg, Nando's

Favourite Possession of the Moment: My Helle Laminated Steel Survival Knife Susan got me for Christmas.

Favourite Smell: Fresh Coffee, Fresh Flowers

What Can I Play: Guitar, Bass Guitar, I was even in a band called Breed but I will tell you all about that later.

Favourite Books: The Art of Deception, The Art of Intrusion by Kevin D Mitnick

Current Goals: Grow my company, work with other crafting companies, Travel from Lands End to John O'Groats on a solar powered recycled home made vehicle, launch some new products, but more importantly try to enjoy things a little more and not get stressed.

Situations I Like: Doing something nice, and making people happy, overcoming a fear.  I also like a good debate and don't take things personal....

Situations I Dislike: Closed minds, dishonest people, people who copy and take the glory.

Religion: Well I do believe in "A God" but what he, she or it is, I don't know, so I don't think I can be put in a box.

Things that get me ANGRY!!: Vindictiveness, stupidity that hurts people, some politics, war and any form of intimidation, oh and I don't like people treating other people like they are stupid or being condescending to them, everybody is equal....

What style of music?: Well that's a tough one, I have a very wide taste in music from Death Metal all the way through to Classical, I think the best way is to list a few of my musical inspirations.

Rage Against The Machine, Greenday, Slipknot, Marilyn Manson, David Guetta, Calvin Harris Tiny Tempah, Prodigy, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Metallica, Some cheesy pop.... and even a bit of country....  I was blessed with a super wide taste, I think most music is self expression and therfore art so I lap it up as much as I can.....


Who is your favourite artist: I like a bit of work from Banksy and Damien Hurst but I also like older artists like William Holman Hunt. Actually I am pretty fond of most of the art from The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.  I think it is artwork at the peak of human skill.  I quite like installation art and would love to have my own exhibition of Sculpture and Installation Art some day.  I have some interesting Ideas.

Glass Half Full or Glass Half Empty: Glass vessel with liquid H2O in it......

Logic or Passion: I'm passionate when I should be logical and logical when I should be passionate.

Fiction or None Fiction: None Fiction

Favourite Film: They Live

They Live 1988 - Directed By John Carpenter  Starring: Roddy Piper

Favourite Crafting Technique: Splodging of course!

Favourite Crafting Companies Other Than SplodgeAway: Indigo Blu, Ranger...

Favourite Car: VW Golf R32

I would rather have this than a Ferrari....

Favourite TV Show: Breaking Bad

Most Embarrassing Moment: Sobbing my heart out when Holly was born.....

Most Proud Moment: Holly being born on the 2nd February 2013 at 11am born 8lbs 5oz.

I could have been a surgeon...  Digging the shoes!!

Dog or Cat: Dog, we have two, Ben and Gizmo, thanks must go to Jacqui Paterson Vets who treat Ben when he had Parvo and managed to keep him alive, THANK YOU FOREVER! Although he is a little sod now so thanks must go out for that too... lol ;)

My Dog Ben....

About Tom:

Well where do I start?  Probably at the beginning would be a good place to initiate our little article.  Ok, correct me if I am wrong mother, I was a bit to young to remember....

The height of fashion....

I was born Thomas Paul Daniel Johnson, yes thought I better get that one out of the way first, probably the most embarrassing two middle names in existence.  I wasn't a particularly large baby but I was surprisingly good looking and apparently I slept well.

Told you I was good looking.... lol

When I was growing up I was given a little point and press camera and mastered that very quickly, by about 3 I was given a fully manual SLR 35mm film camera, I mastered it very quickly and started taking some shots.  My mother was friends with a lovely lady called Irene Reddish.

 Irene was an AMAZING artists who trained at the Royal College or Arts and held a BA and MA and RCA and had more letters after her name than the alphabet.  Irene and my mother noticed that I was getting pretty good so they trained me to develop my own images in a dark room.  I enjoyed this immensely and continued to develop my skills.  I also attended creative workshops in Clay, Screen Printing, Junk Art, Altered Art and more.

They worked me so hard I couldn't stay awake...

When I hit 7 years old I was ready to create my own exhibition in Photography.  An application was made to Northern Arts Council who funded and marketed my exhibition.

As you can see, I never stropped.... EVER!

After a year the exhibition was ready and hung at the Buddle Arts Centre in Wallsend.  This attracted a large amount of media coverage and I was on TV a number of times including TV AM and a number of news channels.  I also had a documentary made about me and was interviewed by Koo Stark, yes the one that made a naughty film and was dating royalty.  The exhibition travelled around for a while.  



The media stated I was a child prodigy and was going to be the next David Bailey.  The TV cameras and press were everywhere and so was the paparazzi, they even visited me at school, it got a bit much.  After a while I rebelled against what once my love and decided not to do photography any more....

Young Tom
WANTS YOU TO VISIT AGAIN!!!

The story continues next post.............