Local artist/musician/Navy veteran Tom Harte died earlier this month. He was a Richmond native, born and raised in Oregon Hill.

Some of his artwork can be found at Luxor Vintage on Cary Street.

Here is an excerpt from a Style magazine article:

Harte is a free spirit with a huge nest of white and blond whiskers bursting from his chin. As usual, he’s chatting it up on the sidewalk.

“The second-hardest-working man in town,” he says of a FedEx delivery driver who is making a stop at Luxor. A woman Harte has invited to see the show stops by to tell him, “I just haven’t had time — but I’ll be back.”

Harte was born in Oregon Hill. He left Richmond in 1973 and didn’t come back until 1987. He started drawing while he was away and never stopped. Selling a few pieces of art a month keeps him afloat.

Harte has 38 works on display in Luxor, ranging in price from $25 (No. 2, “World Cup”) to $400 (No. 28, “Dad”). Harte uses a myriad of media: pen, crayon and paint; his mishmash of subjects includes horses, faces, trees and interior scenes.

“The most common reaction,” Lindberg says of customers, “is, ‘The same person did all this?'” He hopes a theme will emerge in future showings.

Harte says he, too, is working to hone his style and turn out great things. At the same time, he’s trying to remember that it’s just a job. “No matter how good you are,” he says philosophically, “all roads lead to death.”