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Tommy Hollenstein: Tracks & Paws

Tommy was raised in the San Fernando Valley. He enjoyed outdoor activities and dreamed of becoming an artist one day. That is, until a mountain bike accident in 1985 left him with a broken neck and a life relegated to a wheelchair. He was 24. At the hospital, a priest was called twice to give last rites. Tommy prayed to live.

Spinal cord injury groups tried to facilitate his desire to paint. Tommy hated the confinement of a mouth stick. It was "too restraining," he said, and his childhood dream seemed destined to be just that. A dream.

Two years after his accident, he received his first service dog, a yellow Labrador named Weaver. "Weaver was the one who gave me back my independence and gave me the confidence to move into my own apartment," says Tommy. "The bond between the dog and I was just phenomenal, and as he started to get older, I really wanted to have something as a memory of him on my wall other than a photograph. So I kept thinking that someday I'm gonna roll through paint and have him walk through the same paint. It'll be like tire tracks and paw prints."

Weaver became Tommy's best friend and the source of his breakthrough. Using non-toxic paint safe for Weaver's paws, assistants applied color to the dog and to the wheels of Tommy's chair. Together, they began to paint.

Tommy works slowly and deliberately. After an assistant primes a board with a base color, he may apply as many as 50 coats before he feels satisfied. "I just keep working it," he says. "As each piece speaks to me, I keep on working the paint. It's like dancing as I spin back and forth and slide the tires. It's probably the time I feel the most freedom in my chair."

At worship services in Los Angeles, Tommy keeps a notebook. When a word rises that carries emotional lift, he writes it down. Expect. Soar. Beyond. These become the titles of his paintings.

His message is not limited to the disabled community. "I want people to get a positive feeling, to move beyond their expectations, their limitations." Go do something you dreamed about as a child.

Tommy & Hiley

Studio

Tommy Painting

Ride

May 5th - 30th 2026

Reception: Sun May 17th 2-4pm