​“I spent years learning how to paint people,” he says. “For a long time I struggled with color and learning to make people look human and real. In a painting with a lot of people you have to get the proportions right. My favorite model is my son-in-law, Chris Brust. I work from photo studies of Chris in different poses. When the drawing’s done, it’s easy to get too stiff with the painting. I like to work in great detail then mess it up. To burden the viewer’s brain with too much detail creates an exhausting experience.”
 
The realistic oil paintings of Andy Thomas are frequently populated with people in an array of both complex and simple settings. They cover a gamut of subjects from western to political and from life in the Ozarks to historical depictions to maritime scenes. First and foremost, Andy is a storyteller whose intense accuracy and authenticity are captivating.
 
If you open your vintage artCentral cookbook, “Palettes and Palates”, facing page 82 you’ll find an exemplary image titled “The Good Earth”. At a school dance a young girl wearing her “best” sits still and alone in a straight-backed chair. Her expression of resolve is framed in a cascade of auburn curls. The accompanying text of Andy’s story gives a lovely window into her dilemma.

Online and in books Andy spends countless hours researching the history and characters that fill his paintings. Factual accuracy is important. If he’s painting Presidents gathered to swap stories over drinks, Andy researches and then depicts the drinking preference of each person present.
 
With thorough research Andy creates each painting’s story. The favorite of my artist-musician husband, David, is “…and the Band Played On” inspired by Andy’s interest in Captain Morgan, a famous British pirate and his likely inclination to throw a party after capturing major Spanish bounty.
 
When Andy gets to musing over who the pirate will invite to make the party the best ever, the image is filled with twenty-six deceased musicians from music history. The painting’s storyline suggests the music is wonderful and rhythmic, resonating across the island as revelers jump up to sing along or dance a jig or tell a good story. There’s a gentle breeze passing through the palm trees. Good food and drink are plentiful. Folks are having a good time. The scene is exotic, exciting and fun!
 
When I ask if Andy and Dina ever consider living somewhere more exotic and exciting than Carthage, Andy laughs. “Exciting for what? If I’ve been in the studio and alone too long and I’m feeling bored and I need some excitement, all I have to do is go to Walmart. I always see a friend, someone I haven’t seen in a while, and we have a good talk and get caught up. Then I’m ready to go home. Now that’s exciting!” Andy continues, “I have no reason to go away from where I am. These are my people. This is where I’m from. All I want is here.”
 
How very fortunate we are to have Andy and Dina among us and supporting our community with their talents. For the last two years Dina has hand delivered Andy’s original oil painting for our Holiday Boutique 4x4 Silent Auctions. For both years his canvas has realized the greatest donations for artCentral’s work on behalf of art and artists. I’m delighted Andy will contribute his time and experience as the Juror for artCentral’s Annual Membership Exhibition opening June 1, 2018.
 
For now our artCentral galleries are resplendent with the “Art Speaks” collection on view in our elegant Hyde House during weekend gallery hours and by appointment through March 18, 2018. Admission is free. For information call (417) 358-4404.

for drawing. This is my greatest strength as a painter, but I can’t afford to get cocky. Making art is a humbling experience. You have a lot of failures before you have success.”
 
 “When I see really good artists, I’m really jealous,” adds Andy. “I’m always ambitious to be better than I am today. Besides, everybody seems to know my painting of the Presidents sitting together swapping stories, but in the art world nobody knows who I am!”
 
Andy describes himself as a diligent and hard worker. He has a daily routine that helps him be productive. A late riser, he begins his mornings around ten with coffee and the paper before going upstairs to his studio. At 11:30 he breaks for lunch, and then paints until dinner at six followed by time to relax. He concludes his final painting session of the day around midnight.
 
His late-into-the night work schedule today, Andy says, is a carry-over from his time working his day job at Leggett & Platt while attending night school for five years to earn his BS degree in marketing. Though surely sleep deprived, he graduated Magnum Cum Laude from Missouri Southern State University.
 
Andy credits his mentors Ted Watts and Chet Wilson for keeping him from growing up to be a bum.  At seventeen he begins his sixteen year career at Leggett & Platt. Before digital technology was the norm, he spent ten years in communications and graphic design learning all the ins and outs of his job in the printing industry. He especially enjoyed mastering hand lettering and calligraphy while working with various type fonts.

Andy says he was “born rich” because of his good dad and mom, Clarke and Olive, who taught him what counts and that family is first. Today he and Dina have six children and eleven grandchildren with whom their lives are beautifully interwoven. Andy likes to give drawing lessons to the youngsters. He’s rewarded with the glimpses of talent he sees.
 
As they started out, once Andy and Dina decide to take the chance for his success, they make a plan. They save enough money for a two year cushion and set up their small business. They load Andy’s body of work to travel and they hit the art fair circuit. Quickly they learn selling art isn’t as easy as they hoped. More than once as many as 75,000 people see Andy’s work at an art fair, yet the artist and his partner return home without selling a single painting. They know they have to get better. They do.
 
Together they challenge each other. Andy grows and refines his painting skills. Overnight Dina increases
sales by simply adding a feng shui element to their ten foot display booth. Through the years they find with their diverse talents they’re perfect business complements.
 
Dina, acting as business manager, affords Andy the opportunity to be the nice guy. She says her personable and friendly husband will talk on and on to anyone about anything. She gives Andy some good advice that every artist needs to hear: “Modesty and self-criticism don’t sell a painting. If you can’t say something nice about your art, don’t say anything at all!”
 
Andy’s advice to painters aspiring to succeed: “When you’re able to make a living painting, then you’re a success! You’re successful because you keep going. You have to want to be better. A positive attitude goes a long, long way. Put on a happy smile and surround yourself with positive thinking and positive speaking people. I learned this from my mother, Olive. She’s always cheerful.”
 
For the love of art, cheer your heart and lift your spirit. Visit artCentral’s spring exhibition “Art Speaks” on view in our elegant Hyde House during weekend gallery hours and by appointment through March 18, 2018. Admission is free. Call (417) 358-4404 for information.

 Celebrating our first Valentine’s as newlyweds, my husband David and I agree, “Love’s timing is mysterious.” Though destiny surely intended our rendezvous, we’ve been more than thirty years in finding each other and choosing to make Carthage our home.

​artCentral played the cupid in our coming together. Now we’re relishing each precious day we’re sharing as we marvel at our delayed good fortune. Together we’re pouring our hearts into making our individual and collaborative art, as we pour our love into serving the art and artists of our community through artCentral.
 
Entering my fourth year as artCentral’s DirectorCurator, I know without doubt I’ve been preparing all my life for this unique opportunity in this special place. The skills I possess, the talents I bring and my abiding passion and love for a life of art and artists make me uniquely suited to direct our small town non-profit art center in this town of artistic treasures that are so easy to love.
 
The other day, just up the hill from artCentral, when I walk into a haven of art and love, my heart is set aflutter. Before I can ring the bell, there’s the front door opening wide. A warmly smiling Andy Thomas, wonderfully successful artist and a true hometown treasure, welcomes me into the charming home he shares with his wife, Dina, and their beautiful family.

asking interview questions. Andy sits relaxed in his low, rolling stool stationed before his very large canvas now under way—a collection of presidents sharing round table camaraderie. Pigments loosely applied block in background colors while the foreground is a maze of heavy, dark, carefully-crafted lines just beginning to reveal the animation of the faces that will bring life to the finished rendering. What a privilege for me to view an Andy Thomas painting in the making!
 
While intrigued by this work in progress, I’m repeatedly drawn to a radiant portrait centrally hung like an ever present muse above Andy’s work space. She’s a glowing, dark-haired beauty painted in vibrant, warm tones. She’s Dina, Andy’s wife. The love emanating into the space between them is palpable.
 
I’m inspired by the accomplishments Andy and Dina have and continue to create together in their collaborative partnership. Andy tells me they’ve been married almost thirty years. They’re a magical pairing, just as I believe David and I are meant to be.
 
Andy’s eyes twinkle, reflecting on meeting Dina for the first time while he was on a business trip for Leggett & Platt, his then employer. He asks me, “Do you remember the movie, ‘My Cousin Vinnie’? Well, Dina was just like the young Italian woman played by Morisa Tormei!” Indeed I do remember the character—brash and bold, flamboyant and fiery, very intelligent and charmingly irresistible—the perfect business partner for co-creating recognition and success.
 
Today being Valentine’s, our day for celebrating love, I’m sharing Andy’s and Dina’s love story. In coming Art Notes I’ll give you the backstory on Andy’s beginning as a young man of seventeen launching into the work world. He enjoyed a sixteen year career at Leggett & Platt before bravely deciding to support his family with his art as their sole source of income.
 
While you wait to learn more about Andy, treat yourself with a visit to artCentral’s spring exhibition “Art Speaks”, the not-to-be-missed mixed media collection presented by the Joplin Regional Artists Coalition. This impressive exhibit is on view in our elegant Hyde House during weekend gallery hours and by appointment through March 18, 2018. Admission is free. Call (417) 358-4404 for information.

for all his hours and talents given to gathering the art and artists and the making of his exquisitely crafted award ribbons.

Prior to the opening, Juror Marian Stahl Chamberlain travels from Springfield and spends an afternoon engaging with the fifty works on display. When called away to Chicago on art business, Marian is unable to attend the Art Speaks full-house opening. In her absence I have the great privilege of announcing the artists and their art works recognized for outstanding artistic expression and excellence.

The notes Marian digitally transmits to me before the exhibit’s opening reflect the skills of perception, discernment and appreciation she brings to her daunting task of selecting the award recipients. She comments, “Judging this show was not easy. I walked through the gallery to get a first impression of each piece and was overwhelmed by the quality of all of the work. To view a venue filled with the art of so many creative people is one thing; viewing a venue filled with art of creative people who possess such high degrees of technical skills is truly impressive. I went through all of the galleries at least four times to take in all the richness! The pieces I’ve chosen for recognition are the ones I found engaging in various ways, including content, intent and high technical quality. While making comments on some of the works, I could do so with each one. I love something about every piece.”

With Marian’s notes the honors of the evening are awarded in four categories: Best of Show, 2-D, 3-D and Honorable Mention.

Best of Show: Paula Giltner: “Low Water Bridge”—There’s a certain amount of magic and illusion to this painting. The soft layered edges of the colors are mesmerizing. I look for more details the closer I get. Taking in the middle ground, background and foreground, the whole picture is filled with light, making light the true subject of the painting. The effects of light on the water are wonderful. Noticing the little details, I’m absolutely delighted in the waterfowl that cut through the water in the foreground.

2D award recipients include:

First Place: Koral Martin: “Middle Earth”—This photograph’s never boring, keeping the viewer coming back for more. The landscape’s sharp and lost edges combine for interest and depth. The reflective pearlesque quality of the surface absorbs and reflects light, increasing the feeling of depth.

Second Place: Andrew Batcheller: “The White Horse”— There is a complexity to the technical aspects of Andrew’s work that doesn’t disappoint in the balance of composition and color. The application of the paint to create the luminous change in values is enchanting before even considering the symbolism of the piece.
Third Place: Jodie Sutton: “The Last Dance”—First seeing this piece, I’m physically drawn in. The small details of the encaustic surface demand to be viewed closer. I find this artwork to be almost magnetic. I resist the incredible urge to touch the wax to appreciate the material. The composition is simple, yet powerful.

3-D award recipients include:

First Place: Valerie Doerr: “Turning 17254”—A lovely form, enhanced by multiple complex textures! The velvety look of the wood is paradoxical to the rough edge of bark left on the piece. The turquoise that fills the cracks is the perfect color and value to complement the lights and darks of the wood’s annual rings.

Second Place: April Davis-Brunner: “Summer Setting”—The attention to the detail of the zinnias is amazing—not an idealized representation of the flowers, but a realistic one appreciative of the life stages of each blossom with qualities of interpretation from the hand of the artist. This is a very lovely sculpture in honesty of the subject and execution of the materials.

Third Place: Angel Brame: “The Voyage Home” has many different facets—the making of the pottery form, the application of glazes that accentuate the different textures of the surfaces and the assemblage of all of the pieces with various materials. All of the elements complement one another. Text is an intriguing accent giving the viewer an in-depth view of the artist’s thought process.

Honorable Mentions:

Helen Stiles: “Self-portrait”—Excellent use of light and dark. Contrasting values make the piece very powerful.

Linda Passeri: “Go North, Pilot Bird #12—This piece draws and navigates the viewer’s eye to various parts of the work, dictated by the atmospheric perspective as well as the artist’s use of color and multi-directional planes.

Mary Parks: “Loud & Clear”—A bold usage of color with a strong composition.

Alice Lynn Greenwood-Mathé: “Unsilenced”—An exceptionally engaging work of art. The multiple, varying photographic views of a sculpture create a nice repetitive pattern. The accompanying text tells a compelling story. This is an artwork and a novel, all in one.
​
artCentral extends our sincere appreciation to Koral Martin of KOKA Art Gallery and to Cherry Babcock of Cherry’s Art Emporium for their underwriting of this impressive exhibit on view through March 18, 2018. Admission is free. Call (417) 358-4404 for information.