He says "After about twenty years working almost exclusively in pastel, I have been seduced by the lush wet quality of oil paint. It is refreshing to be out from behind the glass." The goal of his work is to create a space which the viewer would want to enter; and once there, forget about the painting and become lost in the feelings which the art has evoked.
Tornatzky has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and won numerous awards as well. His work has been published as posters for Pike Place Market in Seattle, the Center for Wooden Boats, the Whidbey Island Race Week, and has appeared as cover art in numerous magazines.