Phil Thomas Art

Cloud Shadows 12 x 16 Oil

Phil Thomas was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1948. He spent his early years in rural Pennsylvania but has lived in Georgia most of his adult life. Coming from a family of talented artists, he had always been interested in drawing and painting yet never seriously pursued painting until later in life. He found his passion for painting in 2002 in a watercolor class. Phil has studied with several nationally known instructors and takes every opportunity available to further his art education.

He is an award winning artist whose work is displayed in both public and private collections. In December 2008, Phil decided to pursue his art career full time after working in accounting and software for many years. He is currently represented by several galleries and had two solo exhibits in 2009. He also shows his work in juried exhibitions on a local, regional and national level.

He is currently an associate member of the Oil Painters of America, a juried member of the Atlanta Artists Center, a member of the Southeastern Pastel Society, the Quinlan Visual Arts Center, and the Bowen Center and is past president of the Sawnee Artists Association. He currently serves as treasurer of the Atlanta Artists Center.

"I have always had a great love of nature and the great outdoors. My goal is to convey using oil paints my feelings and impressions of a scene. It is initially the light that draws me to a scene. Sometimes I pass right by a scene at one time of day only to return at an earlier or later time of day and have to paint it. Sometimes, surprisingly, it is the gray overcast conditions that attract my attention.
I paint many of my paintings on location, "en plein air" amid all the bugs and sometimes hostile weather. My larger studio paintings are usually based on these smaller paintings done outdoors. Most of my still life and figurative paintings are done from life as well. I am still in awe at the magic that occurs when everything comes together and the painting just seems to emerge from the canvas on its own."