John Thomas

After a heart attack in November of 1986, it was uncertain whether John would live to see Christmas that year. Wanting to leave behind something special and uniquely his for his only child, a 12-year-old daughter, he set about to create an ink drawing of a horse for her. The end result surprisingly surpassed his hopes and expectations. That early “success” served as an encouragement to attempt yet another artistic project, followed by another and then still another.

A few years later John formed a friendship with the well known water colorist Perry Winkler who encouraged him to pick up a brush. John’s watercolor paintings, many of which are on display at the Winkler Gallery of Fine Art in Du Bois PA, (and the many pieces which hang in his daughter’s
home) tell the rest of the story. His style is eclectic, ranging from representative to the abstract.

His use of color is often arbitrary, chosen for the sake of emotion, and meanders in and out of the boundaries of line for the sake of rhythm. He dismisses the notion that every painting must make a statement or “say” something, believing that, sometimes, composition and beauty are enough. Though John retired from full-time pastoral ministry in the spring of 2012, having preached the Word of God for 40 years and serving 35 consecutive
years in the same congregation, he remains active in the work of the church.
Nevertheless he hopes to be able to dedicate more time and energy to
capturing the uncommon beauty of the ordinary that surrounds us all.